


of starflowers and scars

by chirithy (sylleblossum)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe, Blood and Injury, Cuban Lance (Voltron), F/M, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Korean/Japanese Keith, M/M, Slow Burn, Trans Girl Pidge, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2018-09-10
Packaged: 2018-10-11 08:37:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 29
Words: 59,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10460556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sylleblossum/pseuds/chirithy
Summary: Lance had an everyday routine, one that was simple and kept his life organized. He never expected to find a man passed out in his garden covered in blood. He never expected for his life to change so much when taking care of said man.





	1. starflowers

He was running, though he had lost track of how long he had been running for. He knew he wouldn’t be able to hold out for much more. So many hours and so many miles had gone passed. His lungs burned, his legs wobbled, and he had cuts and bruises all over from when he escaped. The worst ones were a long jagged gash on his right shoulder, he could still feel it bleeding slightly and it burned. Then, there was the large chunk in his forearm gone, from where he ripped the tracking device out with his teeth. He was not going to let them find him easily. The pain was immense but he couldn’t stop. If he stopped, they would find him, they would use him. He would become their experiment again.

The forest around seemed to only get denser as he went on. He couldn’t even see the moon or the sky. He started to slow down, his breath coming out in heavy pants. Only for a moment, his brain supplied. He leaned again a nearby tree, growing in pain when the bark dug into his shoulder injury. He would need to find supplies soon; he had no doubt that it was starting to get infected. But he didn’t even know where he was. He only knew that needed to keep going.

So that’s what he did. He moved forward for a few more hours it seemed, and finally, the forest seemed to grow more open around him. He could see a clearing up ahead and willed the last of his strength to make it there. Floral scents came to his nose as he grew closer to the clearing. His vision was starting to tunnel. He took a couple steps into the clearing, and then it all went black.

XXXX

Lance Fuentes had a routine, one that kept his day nice and organized. It was very simple:

• Wake up at 6  
• Shower  
• Eat breakfast  
• Tend to his garden until 9 am  
• Meet Hunk and Pidge for breakfast at Hunk’s  
• Take his shift at the local bookstore until 430  
• Take a dip at the local swimming pool  
• Be home by 6 to water his garden  
• Dinner/Downtime  
• Nightly skin care treatment  
• Bed by 10

Then, it was wash, rinse, and repeat for the next day. He took pride in his garden, technically it was his grandmother’s, but when she passed away, she left Lance her house and her garden. He had so many memories growing up there: making flower crowns for his mama and sisters, planting his first ever flower seed, napping under the sunflowers. He could go on and on, but what he loved most was the feeling of life all around him. He had put his heart and soul into this garden, almost everyone in his family had done so, even his friends. The garden around his home hummed with life and love and he was proud that he had contributed to that.

One quiet May morning, Lance would have never expected for his routine to be changed as he got ready. He put on his gardening clothes, a pair of soft shorts that he could work in and a white tank top, and his shoes. Before leaving the house, he put on a blue straw sunhat that his friend Allura had gifted him the year before. She had heard of the time Lance got sunburn on his ears, because he just wanted to keep working in the garden, so the day after, she had gifted him the hat, and he loved it.

Lance left out his front door, and instantly something felt off, but he couldn’t place what was wrong. He simply shrugged his shoulders, and went to go get his gardening tools. His mama had asked him to bring her a small bouquet that day, and he knew she would love some day lilies. They were the flowers he thought of when he thought of her. He had a different flower for every member of his family and all of his friends. 

As he made his way to the gardening shed, he saw a small disturbance near the edge of his property, where the garden met the woods. He guessed some sort of animal had decided his garden was their lunch. But, the place where the disturbance was was where his favorite flowers were located. He decided he’d check on the flowers before setting to work.

He stepped closer, and the scent of iron reached his nose above the flowers. He looked in horror as he saw some of his flowers covered in blood. He immediately wanted to turn back, may be call Hunk for help, but he stopped when he heard a groan. Lance bit his lip and stepped even closer, to find a man passed out in front of his starflowers, covered in blood.


	2. spider lilies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A phone call is made, dreams are dreamed, wounds are cleaned and then names are revealed.

Lance, thankfully, did not scream when he found a man passed in his garden, well he sort of did, mentally. For a reason he couldn’t think of, he got closer. The other male seemed around his age, and had dirty black hair to his shoulders. His clothes were ratty and torn, and were too large on him. They seemed like clothes one would wear in a hospital. He had a worryingly large wound on his right shoulder that was caked in blood. His pale skin, what Lance could see of, was littered with cuts and bruises. He looked like he had been through a horrible ordeal.

And instead of calling the cops or emergency service like he should have, Lance called his best friend, despite of the early hour.

“Hey Hunk. I think I’m going to need you to come over to my house. Maybe, also, bring Pidge and Shay with you. And definitely tell Shay that she needs to bring her first aid kit.

XXXX

He was dreaming, that’s all he knew. The dream was of a happier time when he was called by his name instead of a serial number. He had an older brother who loved him and taught him about space, even though he couldn’t remember his face. It was always blurred and had been for years.

He was dreaming of home, of sitting in his backyard, listening to his brother tell him the stories of the stars. He knew he would awake, that he didn’t have much time. So he just listened to his brother’s voice, wishing that it wasn’t a dream.

XXXX

“He’s shivering. And I think he’s also crying,” Hunk said, as he handed his girlfriend a damp rag. Shay hummed in acknowledgement as she wiped some of the sweat off the man’s face.

“It’s probably from the fever. Who knows how long his wounds had been infected. Lance, I really do advise you take him to the hospital. I am only a nursing student, there is only so much I can do,” Shay looked over to Lance, who was watching from the doorway.

Once Hunk had arrived with Pidge and Shay and Lance explained what he had found, Hunk and he had carefully moved the unconscious man into Lance’s house into an unused bedroom on the first floor. As soon as he and Hunk set him down, Shay immediately got to work. To get a better look at the shoulder wound, she had cut the ratty shirt off. The group looked in horror that the man’s torso was littered with scars. Lance tried not to think of what Shay whispered to herself, that many of the scars looked surgical.

Pidge did not have the stomach for blood and decided to go in the woods just to see if she could get an inkling of where the man had come from. She hadn’t returned yet.  


Shay took a step away from the bed, she had done all she could. The arm wound that Lance had not originally noticed was disinfected and wrapped with gauze. She also disinfected the shoulder wound and placed some medical gauze pads taped down with medical tape. Lance knew she was right, that he should take him to the hospital, that wound looked horrible.

Shay left the room to go sanitize her hands, Hunk following close behind her. She left her medical supplies on the bedside table; Lance got closer to tidy up and pack up her kit. He put the scissors on top of the kit, and gave him a small reminder to grab them later.

Lance looked over at the strange man. His mind was going a mile a minute, trying to figure out just what could have possibly had happened to him. Maybe he was a camper and got attacked by an animal, he would probably never know. Once Pidge returned, Lance was most likely going to take him to the local hospital.

Speaking of Pidge, he could hear his front door open and Pidge yell that she had returned. Hunk and Shay walked by the room to go greet the girl; he could now hear them talking in his den. He gave the stranger another glance over, before heading for the door.

XXXX

A door slamming open was what awoke him from his rest. He could hear voices chatter. And a shadow had passed over his eyes, footsteps walking by. His body shouted in pain and exhaustion, asking not to move. But, he couldn’t afford to listen to it. He opened his eyes and was greeted with an unfamiliar ceiling. He glanced around his surrounding, and saw a pair of scissors nearby. Whoever had him wasn’t smart enough to not leave these near him. He grabbed them, and watched the person walk away from him. He saw his chance.

He swung his legs off the bed, and ran to pin the other person. The person let out a gasp as he was grabbed and pressed into the wall. The scissors found themselves very close to the other person’s throat.

“Hey, Lance, you okay in there? What was the thump?” He tensed at the sound of more people. This Lance had quickly called out,

“Nope, I’m good buddy. Just knocked my knee into the dresser. Give me a minute, I’ll be right there,” He squinted his eyes as this Lance person lied. Why was he lying and not calling for help? He didn’t understand. Lance turned around in his grip and he let him, not releasing his hold on the scissors. He was met with blue eyes.

“Hey there big guy. How’s about we put the scissors down and talk? I’m only here to help,” He only glared harder at Lance, the scissors closed in more, barely touching his skin. He didn’t understand. Who would help him? No one would, he knew that much. This had to be a ruse, a fake, in order to get him to let his guard down so they could take him down.

“How did you find me?” His throat was so dry and not used to being used for speaking. His voice came out as barely a whisper.

“You passed out in my garden, dude. Which once you’re better and everything, you are going to help me replace my blood soaked flowers,” Lance replied. Alright, now he was even more confused, and it must have reflected on his face because Lance raised an eyebrow at him. He wasn’t part of the----- He was still free.

Pressure was released in his chest and he started to fall. Lance had grabbed him before he hit the ground. He didn’t care, he was still free, they hadn’t found him yet. But how long did he have left until they did?

He let himself be guided back to the bed, the scissors were wrenched out of his hand. He jolted once Lance decided to talk some more.

“Now that we know you’re actually awake. We should probably take you to the hospital, Shay can only do as much as she can for the shoulder wound. What’s your name, by the way?” He didn’t listen to anything passed the word ‘hospital’ and tensed up again. He grabbed Lance’s arm, and shook his head, willing himself to speak again.

“No, no hospital. They’ll find me. I’m fine, just let me go,” Lance looked at him with what seemed like concern. He wasn’t sure.

“Who will find you? Are you in some kind of trouble?” He just shook his head more, he would endanger this Lance if he told him anything. Lance only hummed at his response, not liking it, but he let it go. He looked away from Lance, to the ground.

“Fine. We’ll figure something out. Now, what about a name? Can’t keep calling you Stranger in my head,”

“G-1350,” It was an automatic response, back from where he was kept.

“Say what now. That is not a real name. We’ll just call you G for now, I guess,” Lance patted his uninjured shoulder, noticing that he tensed up more at the contact. He filed that away and made sure to tell the others.

Whispers in his brain told him of a glimpse of a memory. One of the past, of his brother yelling for him. Yelling his name. He waited until Lance was at the door, looking back at him, until he spoke up again.

“Keith,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably shouldn't do what Lance did, and definitely call the emergency services if you find someone covered in blood passed out in your garden, and then get the heckle out of there. 
> 
> So dun dun dun, mystery man's name is revealed. Next chapter you'll see what Pidge had found out, and Lance will tell the group his encounter with Keith.
> 
> hmu on tumblr: [chirithy](http://chirithy.tumblr.com/)


	3. gladiolus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang talks about Lance's new house guest, and Keith is confused by Hunk's calming aura.

Lance held onto his throat, his heart hammering in his chest. He was not expecting that reaction from his mystery guest. But, if this Keith had been attacked in the woods by someone searching for him, then maybe the reaction was necessary from Keith. Lance gave himself a couple of moments to calm himself, listening to his friends talk a few rooms away.

"Lance?" Lance jumped at Shay's soft voice. Her dark brown eyes were filled with concern. She touched his arm gently, and he relaxed into the touch. He smiled at her to make her feel better.

"Let's go into the living room. Pidge found something out," Shay said, as she guided Lance away from the guest room. He gave the door one last glace before it disappeared from view. Once they reached the living room, he chuckled at the sight of Pidge. The small girl must have fell into a mud hole somewhere in the woods, for she was covered in mud. She glared at him halfheartedly.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. My mud soaked boots are going to ruin your den rug," Lance only shrugged; he knew the rug out there was already ruined from the times he had dragged mud in from the garden.

"So what did you find, my little mud gremlin?" Lance asked, laughing as Pidge stuck her tongue out at him. He only retaliated back.

"Whoever this guy is, he is really far from where he started out at. I made it to the edge of the Olkarion National Forest, before I turned back. But, I could still see some of the blood trail in there," Everyone looked at her in surprise. The Olkarion forest was a good two and half miles away from Lance's home. 

"I seriously don't understand how he's still alive if he bleed from there to here. We really should get this guy to the hospital," Pidge said, as she pulled her phone from her shorts pocket. Lance is reminded of the desperate look in Keith's eyes when he asked to not go to the hospital, that he would be found. He spoke up,

"About that, after Hunk and Shay left the room, the guy woke up," Her friends' attention was now on him, mostly confusion.

"He told me his name is Keith, well not really, he gave me some sort of ID number before he said his name. But, he asked to not be taken to the hospital," Lance could see Shay frown beside him, he knew she wouldn't have like that.

"He seemed pretty freaked out when I mentioned we were going to take him there. Something about someone finding him, he may be in some kind of trouble. He wouldn't go into it though," Lance rubbed his neck uncomfortably, as his friends had differing looks of worry. Hunk bit his lip and clench his hands slightly, and Pidge tapped her nails against her phone case, while Shay simply looked back towards the hallway. They didn't know where to go from here.

"He's going to get really sick, and that wound is going to fester and leave him in a lot of pain. Maybe, instead of taking him to a hospital, we should bring medical help to him," Shay's soft voice spoke up and broke the group's worrying thoughts. Pidge tilted her head in confusion, before answering.

"That may actually work, but what are going to do if this Keith guy is actually in trouble or something. He could get Lance arrested or worse," Lance could tell that Hunk was starting to get anxious. Shay walked towards him, and held his hand. They smiled at each other sweetly, the anxious look on Hunk's face started to subside.

"We don't know anything yet. Maybe, we're actually helping Keith by hiding him. We could try talking to him some more, maybe get him to trust us and he'll tell us what's going on," Lance said.

"What about the medical help part?" Shay asked.

"Pidge, could your family help? Doesn't one of your parents work in a medical field?" Pidge frowned at Lance's question, before sitting down on his recliner. He really hoped the mud caked on her was dried, but instead of speaking out about it, he sat down in his grandmother's rocking chair. It overlooked the garden, but also had a good view down the hallway.

"Kind of. Dad's a microbiologist for the Garrison and Mom is a vet. Matt's working on his medical engineering degree though, but he's away for the weekend," Lance hummed at Pidge's reply, and thought it over. Matt could have helped and been the most discreet, but they couldn't get any help from him if he was away. They could always ask Pidge's dad, but they couldn't be sure how he'd react.

"Pidge, call your dad. I really think he can help us. But while we wait for him, we need to gain Keith's trust,"

"And how to propose we do that, oh wise one?" Pidge teased as she typed on her phone. Lance smiled at his friend, but especially one person in particular.

"Hunk, my dearest pal, the gentlest human in the whole wide world, well besides you Shay, how would you like to meet my newest resident?"

XXXX

Keith didn't go back to sleep after Lance left the guest room. He let himself rest for a couple minutes on the bed, before he made his way to the window. There was a ledge covered in pillows where someone could sit comfortably. He blinked in surprise when he sat down and took in the view. He couldn't remember seeing so much color in one place.

The facility he was kept in was always so gray. Everything from the clothes to the people, it drained the color out of everything that came in there. He shuddered, he didn't want to think about where he was kept.

A spot of white caught the corner of his eye, and he looked down to see a bandage where he got hurt on his shoulder. He froze looking at it, remembering what had hurt him. He curled in on himself, hugging his knees to his chest, and decided to just look out the window.

He watched the flowers sway in the wind, just watching helped put his mind at ease. He didn't know how much time had passed, and was starting to become tired again, when a knock come upon the door.

It creaked open to reveal a chubby tanned man, a little taller than Lance. The new person looked at the bed, before looking around the room; he smiled when his eyes reached where Keith was sitting. Keith was usually unsettled by smiles, but with this man, he felt a little relaxed. It confused him.

"Hi there. Keith, right?" Keith didn't respond. He wasn't used to being call by his name, it had been years. He watched the new person walk more into the room. He tensed as it seemed he was going to get closer to him, but the new person sidetracked and sat on the bed.

"Well, my name's Hunk. It's nice to meet you," Keith kept silent, but he frowned. He didn't understand, why were these people treating him so nicely here, he knew he couldn't let his guard down. Not when he truly didn't know who they were.

"The silent type, huh? That's alright. I'll just talk," Keith never knew a person could smile so much. But, he still wasn't unsettled, just confused and at ease. This Hunk had some sort of calming aura around him. He let Hunk keep talking and decided to look back out the window, setting his head down onto his knees. 

"Well, Lance told us your name, and also your aversion to hospitals. But, that's okay. We won't take you, even though we really need to give you medical treatment," Keith glared at him over his knees; he knew he needed to be healed, he could feel the burn of infection in his shoulder. If he didn't let them help, it could fester and then he didn't know what could happen to him.

"Would you mind if we brought someone here to help you? He's really good with medicine, and he could help with that shoulder wound since we're a little in over our heads here. He may suggest us to take you to the hospital, but we'll try to get him to agree to keep you here," Keith shrugged, he guessed that could work, as long as they kept his presence a secret. These people would get hurt if they found out he was here. Once he was healed enough, he could leave. Get farther away, maybe find home. His brother. Keith was jerked out of his thoughts when Hunk started talking again.

"So anyway, where are you from? Were you camping out in the Olkarion Forest or something?" Keith tilted his head in confusion, he had never heard of that forest. He thought back about his home, tried to remember. The name was on the tip of his tongue.

"Marfa," He winced at the sound of his voice, he still wasn't used to using it. He always had to keep silent unless asked for his ID number. Hunk echoed the name back to him, and looked at him confused.

"May I ask where that is? Never heard of a town called Marfa around here before," This time, Keith looked at him confused. Where was he?

"Texas," Hunk's eyes went wide.

"Okay, wow, you are a long way from home, buddy. How did you get to Virginia?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had trouble focusing on writing and found something called written kitten. It gives me kitten pictures for hitting a certain word count and I love it.
> 
> Next chapter: Hunk gets Keith to talk some more, and Sam Holt makes an appearance. 
> 
> Oh, I used Kiki's childhood home from Kiki's Delivery Service as a reference for Lance's home.
> 
> hmu on tumblr: [chirithy](http://chirithy.tumblr.com/)


	4. dandelions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry!!!! I didn't mean to have a delay this long, but last week I had cramps so bad I couldn't move, and then the weekend came and it was the last weekend of my cooking job and that took up all my time last weekend. And then my mother had major surgery this week and I had to take care of her. And then well, this is no excuse but I finally got Pokemon Sun, and have been playing that inbetween taking care of my mom.
> 
> I, now, have an estimated plot and chapter timeline that I'm going to work with, and I'm also hoping to have a new chapter out every week hopefully.
> 
> Anyway, enough of me rambling, I hope you enjoy this chapter!!!
> 
> hmu on tumblr: chirithy

Keith sort of shut down after Hunk told him he was in Virginia. He remembered the trip to the compound as if it was the previous day. He could remember how scared and angry he was; he had bit the people holding him several times to the point they had to tie him up. He remembered seeing someone’s watch, and watching the hours tick by. He never knew how far he had gotten though.

He could remember all this and yet the memory of his hometown, besides his home, was a blank. He couldn’t remember anything about the town, besides the name. The memories of the compound overlapped the childhood memories of Marfa. 

He felt the pinpricks of tears start to form in his eyes, and rubbed them against his knees. He couldn’t let himself cry; that had meant weakness at the compound. And weakness meant termination. He still didn’t know these new people that had saved him, but he won’t let them see him be weak.

Hunk only stared at Keith. It was clear that he was upset that he found out he was in Virginia, but what Hunk didn’t understand was how on Earth did he even get here from Texas? But, at least, he had gotten some more information about him. He could tell Pidge, and they’ll find the Marfa town, and maybe even more information on Keith.

“Hey, Keith?” Hunk broke the silence, and Keith actually responded to his name this time. He stared at Hunk with glassy eyes, and waited for him to continue.

“Do you want me to tell you about the town we’re in? Oh, and about everyone that helped you?” Hunk smiled, and his smile grew wider as Keith nodded. Keith moved himself carefully to face Hunk, leaning against the window.

“Well, this is the town of Arus. It’s considered a small college town that houses Lion Castle College. We’re also right next to a major science and astronomical compound/school called the Garrison. The person that’s coming to help check your injuries works at the Garrison as a microbiologist,” Hunk continued to ramble about the town some more, but Keith tuned out after being told about the Garrison. It sounded so familiar, and a fragment of a memory rushed in his head. One of a smile and an acceptance letter. But it was gone as quickly as it came. Keith was brought back to the conversation as Hunk started to talk about who had helped him.

“Well, as I told you, my name is Hunk. I’m an engineering major at the college. Though, its summer break right now so I’m just helping at my mother’s café, Yellow’s. Once, we get the ‘okay’ from Mr. Holt, I’ll make sure to bring you something tasty. The home you’re in belongs to Lance. He says you talked to him already,” Hunk looked at Keith for confirmation, to which Keith only nodded again.

“He’s an astronomy student hoping to go over to the Garrison. He, also, worked at Coran’s Bookstore. Well, you don’t know Coran, but he’s like everyone’s uncle. He treats everyone as if they’re his kids, and also says a lot of weird words that he swears are real,” As Hunk talked, Keith just started to feel more relaxed. He could tell that Hunk was a safe and warm person. Keith bit his lip, this was the kind of person that could get hurt the most if the compound found out where he was.

“So Shay was the one who tended to your wounds. She’s a nursing student, but she really could only do all she could with your wounds. Your shoulder and your arm are the worst ones; we’re hoping Mr. Holt can help us make sure the infection dies down. We don’t want you to be in anymore pain,” Keith really hoped that this Mr. Holt person would hurry and treat him so he could leave.

“And well last but not least, there’s Pidge. She’s Mr. Holt’s daughter, and just started college as a computer science major. Though I know she wants to try to double major also with robotics. You haven’t met her yet. She went into the woods to see if she could find where you came from,” Hunk went to continue but was cut off by a knock at the door. Keith tensed up again as the door opened. A short man with greyish brown hair and glasses popped his head in and grinned at Hunk.

“Hey there. I heard there was someone I had to look at,” The door opened fully, and Mr. Holt walked in. Keith watched him with every step he took, but he didn’t seemed unnerved by it. He set his bag down at the end of the bed, and turned towards Keith.

“Hello Keith. My name is Samuel Holt. I heard Hunk call me Mr. Holt several times already but you can call me Samuel,” Hunk only chuckled and said something about respect for his elders, while Samuel only ruffled Hunk’s hair.

“Now, I can’t do much since I’m really only a scientist but I can find out how bad your injuries are, and determine how much more medical help you’re going to need. I know someone who was a field medic in the military and he might be able to help out more than I can. But, at least, I can help with prescribing some medication from my department. Hunk, do you want to stay in here while I check our friend over?” Hunk shook his head at Samuel, before speaking.

“There’s something I want Pidge to find out about, so I’ll leave Keith in your hands. Now, he’s not very talkative, but he may respond to some questions. But, I think he has a sore throat as well, his voice is really raspy,” Samuel nodded as he opened his bag. Hunk stood and smiled once more at Keith, before walking towards the door.

“I’ll be back,” And with that Hunk closed the door behind him, and left Keith alone with Samuel. Keith chewed on his lip more as Samuel got some medical supplies out of his bag. Samuel walked towards Keith, only stopping a couple steps away. He didn’t want Keith to panic.

“Now, Keith, I’m only here to help you and look at your wounds. I know you don’t trust me, but I need you to extend your arm so I can check the wound on your arm first. And then after that, I need to step closer to look at the wound on your shoulder. After looking at those and bandaging them again, I will back away from you and just talk. Is that alright with you?” Keith thought this over. He hoped that Samuel wasn’t going to be like the doctors at the compound and hurt him more. He silently extended his left arm out, forcing himself to not flinch as Samuel unwrapped the gauze. Keith was soon eye to eye with the wound he inflicted on himself to get the tracking device out of him. The edges of the bite wound were bruised and starting to darken more. Samuel’s eyes went wide at the wound, and bought Keith’s arm closer to get a better look.

“It almost looked like a bite mark. Did an animal go after you?” Keith stared at him, and only shook his head in denial. He didn’t tell him it was self-inflicted. Samuel prodded the flesh around the wound and watched Keith tense and flinch at any of the pain around it. He grabbed some of his antibiotic cream and smeared some of it onto the arm wound, before he rewrapped it.

“Well, I can definitely tell you that you are going to have a heck of a scar there, bud,” Samuel said, before grinning after he finished wrapping the wound. Keith tensed up again as Samuel stepped closer to look at his shoulder. He focused on his breathing and willed himself to calm down, just as Samuel peeled off the bandage on his shoulder. 

Samuel whistled in surprise when the shoulder wound came into view. It was wide and jagged, almost as if someone had sliced Keith with a large knife. Just a glance at it, with its swelling and redness, along with the fact that he could still feel Keith running a fever, he knew it was infected badly. He mentally cursed, wishing he could talk some sense into this kid and get him to go to the hospital. Samuel sighed, knowing he couldn’t do much more, but call his medic friend. He would surely have some more medical supplies that Samuel wouldn’t have, despite not being in the military anymore.

Samuel only put more of the antibiotic cream onto the shoulder wound, and apologized as the boy in front of him hissed in pain. And like he said, as soon as he was done bandaging up Keith’s shoulder again, Samuel stepped away from Keith. He took a seat on the bed.

“As much as I want to know, I will not ask how you got those wounds. But, I hope one day you trust us enough to tell us. I can’t do much, just like Shay, but I did say I had a medic friend. And with your permission, I would like to bring him in and he can help you a bit more. Now, he’s a bit eccentric but he is really reliable. Though, after he was done with the military, instead of becoming a doctor, he became a bookstore owner,” Samuel looked down at his watch, seeing that it was only 10 in the morning.

“His store is currently open, but I’ll ask him to come over after he closes. Lance knows him, though I believe Lance probably doesn’t know about his medic history,” Samuel grinned at Keith, but Keith had ignored it in favor of bringing his knees back to his chest, shielding himself once more. Samuel watched at Keith shivered despite the warm room, and knew it was the fever messing with his body.

“I’ll ask Lance to bring you some clothes, and then I suggest you get some food, and then rest until my friend arrives. I hope that the next time I see you, that you are only the path to recovery and will talk to us as well,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: The gang finds out some more about Keith by looking up his hometown and the intro to Coran Coran the gorgeous man!!


	5. larkspur

Once Hunk released Keith into Samuel’s care, he went back to his group of friends. Pidge’s father had apparently the girl’s laptop, since she was typing away on it. Shay had decided to look through Lance’s bookshelves to pass the time, while his best friend was on his front porch tending to his hanging plants. Hunk tapped on the window to get Lance’s attention, and motioned for the other to come inside. Once Lance was inside, they all took their seats again. His friends looked to Hunk in anticipation.

“He didn’t really talk still. He let me talk though, he knows a little about you guys now. Oh, wait, Pidge, can you look up a town called Marfa? In Texas?” Hunk said. The girl scrunched her nose up in confusion but started to type away. Lance rose an eyebrow in confusion.

“Oh cool, more alien sighting information. This is great, thanks Hunk,” Lance and Hunk chuckled at Pidge’s alien fascination, while Shay smiled in fondness. The smaller girl chirped in happiness as she bookmarked the information.

“Now, I know you weren’t just giving me new stuff to look at. Why am I looking up this town?” Pidge said, the light from her laptop caused a small glare on her glasses.  


“I asked Keith where he was from, and that’s what he responded with,” Pidge hummed in acknowledgement, and started typing some more, while Lance sat up straighter with a question on his lips.

“How did he get here from Texas?” Hunk only shrugged.

“I don’t know, he kind of looked devastated when he found out where he was, but hid it quickly. Maybe Pidge can find some info----“ Pidge cut him off with just that.

“Keith Rhim, born August 13th 1996, was last seen in front of his home on August 31st 2007. It is suspected that the child had gotten lost in the nearby surrounding desert. His surviving family members are his father Ryou Shirogane, and his brother Takashi…” Pidge trailed off with the brother’s name, leaving her friends to look at her in confusion. She seemed to shake off her shock, but did not comment on it, and continued to read the missing person’s report.

“His mother, Rowan Rhim, passed away in 1997, the cause is not listed. It’s said that after the search was called off, a couple years later and turned into a cold case, the father and the brother seem to fade out of public view. A quick search on the internet says the father still resides in Marfa. There’s a number here if anyone knows anything, and that is all I can find on any Keith in Marfa, Texas,” With that, she closed her laptop; she did, however, pull out her phone and texted someone quickly before hiding the phone from view. The group silently processed this information, it shocked them to their core. This Keith person had been missing from his hometown for almost ten years, and with Lance’s information of someone searching for Keith, they knew he could have possibly been kidnapped instead of gotten lost. They all looked at each other, and knew every one of their friends was thinking the same thing. They had to gain Keith’s trust and get him to talk, and try to keep him safe.

“Should we try to contact his family or something? I don’t know about you, but if I had a brother go missing for ten years, and he suddenly popped up, I’d want to know,” Hunk said, he didn’t like keeping people in the dark. He looked to Lance for an answer, but Pidge spoke up first.

“I’ll work on finding and talking to the family. You guys work on Keith, get him better and get him talking,” Her phone buzzed and took Pidge’s attention away from her friends. She typed a response while Lance, Hunk and Shay looked at each other and nodded. Hunk clapped his hands in excitement.

“Oh oh oh, I know what I’m going to do right now. Lance, I’m taking over your kitchen,” With that, Hunk got off the couch, and rushed into the kitchen, not hearing Lance’s response of “All yours, Hunkalicious,”

Shay giggled at Lance, before opening up the book she took from Lance’s bookshelf. Another laugh entered the room, and Lance looked over at the hallway leading to the spare room. Samuel was standing there, a smile on his face, though he held bloody bandages. He disappeared into the bathroom for a couple minutes, before reappearing.

“Lance, I think your new house guest would appreciate some clothes. That fever is going to make him think it’s freezing, so maybe a spare of pajamas pants, a shirt, and maybe a hoodie, if you have any,” 

Lance knew he did, and got up from his rocking chair. He quickly went up the stairway leading to the second floor. From the lofted hallway, he saw Samuel and Pidge talking for a couple minutes, something about Pidge’s brother. He shrugged before he entered his own room. He raided the pajama drawer of his dresser, and found a blue pair of pajama pants with a lion pattern and his college’s insignia. He, then, found a very faded black band t-shirt in his shirt drawer. Throwing those onto his bed, he made for his closet. It was May and slightly warm, so he had no need for hoodies at the moment, so he kept them in his closet. He grabbed the first one he laid eyes on, just a simple red hoodie that still had the price tags on them. Even though Lance loved the feel of the fabric, red was never really his color, but he kept it nonetheless. He grabbed the other clothes he picked out, and made his way back downstairs.

Just as he got back downstairs, Samuel was hanging up on a call on his cell phone and could smell something good cooking in the kitchen. He motioned for Lance to come closer, as he put his phone away.

“Coran knows you’re not coming in later, and well, actually he will be coming over here after he closes the bookstore,” Samuel said. He laughed a little at Lance’s confusion, and then explained.

“Coran is an old friend of mine. And you may not know it, but he was once an army medic. He’ll know more on helping Keith than I do, and he has a stockpile of medical supplies that he doesn’t know what to do with, so in actuality, we’re helping him a little,” Lance grinned with that. That information was new, and was going to ask Coran about his career later, but for now, he was just happy someone could help. Hunk’s head appeared from the open section connecting the kitchen and the living room.

“The soup’s got to simmer, but it’ll be ready in 20 minutes,” Samuel grinned at that.

“Seems like you kids already have a plan at hand, so I’ll leave you to it. See you at home, Katie,” Pidge was on her computer again, and waved at him. Her father smiled in fondness, and went to ruffle her hair, and had his daughter stick her tongue at him afterwards. Lance grinned at the cute family moment, before heading for the spare room. He knocked first, to give Keith a bit of a warning so he didn’t scare him again, and then poked his head in the open doorway. He found his house guest sitting on the window ledge, just looking at his garden. Lance wanted to puff in pride, Keith had a good view of his small section of lavenders. 

“Hey,” Keith looked over at him, and he held up the clothes.

“We figured you could use some new and warmer clothes,” Lance walked over closer, and he noticed how Keith tensed up with every step. He set the clothes down next to Keith’s legs, before sitting down in the reclining chair next to the window, so he was still close, but still far enough. He watched as Keith picked through the clothes and pulled on the t-shirt. Keith stood from his spot, and dropped his sweatpants.

“Oh holy shit! Dude, give a guy a warning!” Lance quickly looked away before he saw anything. He could’ve sworn the guy laughed softly at his reaction. When he heard a zipper being pulled, Lance looked back towards Keith to find him back in his spot in the window, now clad in Lance’s pajamas and the soft hoodie. The price tags were taken off and placed on the side table next to Lance; he looked at them in surprise, he didn’t even hear Keith get any closer to him. He saw Keith look at him with a small smile and heard him say a soft ‘thanks’. 

XXXX

Lance didn’t like awkward silences, and that’s all that there was in the spare room with Keith. So he did what he did best, he talked to fill that silence. He talked about his pride and joy; his garden. He pointed out to what Keith could see from his section. Lavenders, aster, baby’s breath, and some larkspurs. He talked about some of the memories he had, planting the flowers with his grandmother. Keith seemed captivated with his ramblings and listened to every word, though he still didn’t speak. But Lance understood, so he just talked enough for the both of them until the other decided it was his time. A knock on the door interrupted his story of how his grandfather tried to bury him halfway in the garden soil with the smart remark that he was just trying to get Lance to grow. He smiled as Hunk opened the door, and held a tray with two bowls on it.

“Hope you guys like chicken rice soup,” Hunk set the tray down in front of Keith, and handed Lance a bowl and spoon. Lance wanted to pout; he had plans for that chicken in his fridge, but he was getting his best friend’s cooking for lunch so he didn’t mind.

“Pidge is going to hook her laptop to your TV and we’re going to watch some movies. After Keith eats some, Mr. Holt says he wants him to get some sleep before Coran shows up,” Hunk said, as they watched Keith discreetly. He poked the soup with his spoon, and Keith’s eyes widened about something neither of them understood. They watched him take his first slurp of soup, and grinned when his eyes grew even wider. When Keith noticed they were looking at him, he flushed slightly.

“It’s really good. Thanks,” Keith’s quiet voice cut through the silence, and Hunk’s smile could’ve rivaled the sun with how bright it was.

“I’m glad you like it. I’m going to be cooking for you for a little bit, and I hope you like everything I make. And if you don’t like something, don’t be afraid to tell me alright,” Keith nodded, as he got more soup. He paused for a second, before saying something else.

“Goo,” Hunk and Lance looked at him in confusion, and Lance responded to him.

“Say what now?”

“Don’t like goo. The texture or flavor,” Hunk and Lance, then, looked at each other in confusion, before Hunk nodded.

“Well, alright then, no goo it is. Enjoy the food,” And with that, Hunk left the room, and Lance dug into his own bowl of soup. The room filled with sounds of soup slurping and before too long, Keith was done with his soup, and to Lance, he almost looked devastated by that and bit his lip before he put the spoon down.

“Do you want some more? Hunk always makes enough to feed a group,” Keith looked over at him, and Lance couldn’t translate the emotion on his face.

“Am I allowed?” Keith almost looked like he regretted saying that, because he quickly looked away. A part of Lance wanted to scream, because he knew whoever had had Keith made him think food was probably a privilege or something along that fact.

“Not a matter of allowance, it’s a matter of want. Now, I know I always want more of Hunk’s cooking, so I’m going to get some, and if you want more soup, then by all means, let me go get you more soup,”

XXXX

Keith had eaten four more bowls of soup, before he pushed away the tray in satisfaction. He was smiling slightly, and that was a good thing in Lance’s book. But Lance frowned, when he noticed Keith rubbing at the shoulder wound.

“Does it hurt?” Lance asked, and Keith looked at him as if it was obvious, which it was, before he nodded.

“Do you want some pain meds?” Keith thought for a couple moments, before he nodded. Lance left with the tray and bowls, and was back within a couple minutes with a bottle and another glass of water. He tossed the bottle at Keith, who caught it before it hit the floor. He watched Keith read the information on the bottle, he figured the other might be skeptical of what they gave him, so the group decided they’d let Keith see everything they would give him.

“Now, I usually take four for migraines. But, I don’t know what your pain level is at or anything, but I do suggest between 2 to 4,” He placed the glass of water on the side table inbetween them, and told Keith that it was for him. Keith read the information on the pain meds, before taking out some and taking them with the water.

“Thanks,” Lance danced a little mentally, happy that he was talking some more.

“Now, I’m going to be down the hall. If you poke your head into the hallway, you’ll probably see me in my rocking chair. The bathroom is right next door if you need,” Keith started to yawn as Lance talked, so Lance finished up.

“Why don’t you get some more sleep? Coran will be here in a couple hours to do his medic thing. Oh, how does pizza sound for dinner?” Lance said, grinning. He knew the best pizza place in Arus, and the people there liked him well enough to deliver to him, even though he was a little far from town. But then, he noticed Keith’s confused look.

“Do you not know what pizza is?” Keith was silent, before he shook his head. Lance gasped loudly and slightly dramatic.

“You are in for a treat then! I’ll order a couple of types so you can try them out,” Lance grinned at Keith, before Keith nodded and then decided to stand from his spot. He stretched, before making his way to the bed. He went to lay on top of the blankets, but a glance at Lance seemed to ask for permission. Lance nodded, before getting out of the reclining chair again. He watched as Keith moved the blanket around, before getting underneath it and then curled into the warmth of it and the softness of the pillow. He made a soft sound of comfort, making Lance smile even more.

Lance made his way out of the room, leaving the door ajar. 

“See you later, Keith,”

XXXX

The group of friends took turns checking on Keith every half hour or so between their movie watching. Upon telling them Keith’s reaction to pizza, it was agreed that it was going to be for their dinner. Lance needed to get more groceries if Hunk was going to cook some more for them, but he’d figure out a way about that later.

Around 6 in the evening, a knock came to the door. Lance thought it was the pizzas, though it was a bit early. His friends looked at him in surprise when he shouted,

“Coran, what the quiznak,” Pidge started to roar with laughter at Lance’s utter refusal to curse near his boss and instead use the weird words his boss used, just as Lance moved so Coran can be let into the house. She started to laugh even more when she saw Coran’s appearance, in fact even Hunk and Shay laughed at the sight; Lance only shook his head, though smiling still. Coran was dressed like one of those old timey doctors with a lab coat, and one of those weird silver circle things on his forehead, and a pair of glasses.

“Now, my dear boy, where is my patient?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, April is turning out to not be a good time for me. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm so happy I'm doing good with the word count. Oh, also, if you see anything wrong or not worded right, or spelled correctly, please don't hesitate to tell me. I have trouble with some words, and I may use them wrong sometimes.
> 
> Real talk: the memory of Lance's grandfather was inspired by one of my baby photos. My own grandpa did that to me.
> 
> Next chapter: Coran meets Keith, and Keith meets everyone else.
> 
> hmu on tumblr: [chirithy](http://chirithy.tumblr.com/)


	6. daisies

Coran grinned as the group laughed at him, before taking off the doctor getup to reveal his regular outfit of a navy blue cardigan, a light blue button-up shirt, black slacks and black oxfords. He put the costume down on the entryway bench, before grabbing a duffle bag from the porch. It was filled with medical supplies; Samuel told him about how bad the wounds on the young man were, but didn’t know the full extent of what Coran would need. Lance grinned widely and patted his boss on his shoulder.  


“It’s good to have you here, Coran. From what we hear, we’d really appreciate the help,” Coran gave the younger man a side hug, not letting go of his bag.

“No problem, my boy. Now, where’s the person I’ve come to help?” Lance nodded his head towards the hallway. He tossed Hunk his wallet for the pizza delivery person, before showing Coran the way.

“He’s asleep right now. Been asleep since noon or so. I think he needs it; we still haven’t figured out where he came from. But, his name is Keith, he’s a bit skittish and doesn’t talk much,” Coran nodded as Lance talked.

“Have you learned anything else about him?” Lance hesitated, his smile slipping. He couldn’t bring himself to lie to Coran, so he nodded.

“I’ll tell you later. We haven’t even told Keith what we found about him,” Coran raised an eyebrow in curiosity, and Lance waved him off as they stood in front of the spare room door. Lance knocked, hoping to wake Keith slightly. He opened the door fully to find Keith not lying in bed. He was again in the window, apparently looking at the flowers again before Lance and Coran took his attention away.

“Have a good nap, Keith?” Lance said, with a smile before he took his seat from before. Coran smiled lightly behind him before he set his bag down on the memory chest at the end of the bed. He felt eyes on him, and looked up to see Keith staring at him. Coran was taken aback by the young man’s eyes. He had seen eyes like those before, on the faces of people he helped and/or rescued after missions in the military. The man had been through many things and would likely be haunted for a while by them. Coran wanted to know, but wouldn’t push, so instead, he grinned and messed with his mustache.

“Well hello there, Keith. My name is Coran Smythe. I work with Lance at the Lion’s Den Bookshop. My friend, Samuel Holt, gave me call and said you were in need of medical help. I understand the fear of hospitals, and I will do my best to help. Do you mind if I look at your wounds?” After Coran was done talking, Keith looked over at Lance. He smiled and nodded at Keith to reassure him, and Keith seemed to accept that. He removed his hoodie and shirt, and let Coran step closer. Coran noticed how he tensed up, but forced himself to relax.

“I’ll start with your arm,” Coran said, and let Keith move his arm towards him. Coran unwrapped the gauze, before bringing the arm up higher for a closer inspection. Samuel had told him that it looked like an animal bite, but once Coran had a look at it, he knew differently. He noticed that Keith wasn’t looking at him, as if in shame, and then he knew; it was a human bite and by the marks, it was from Keith himself. Coran closed his eyes and released his breath, before looking back in the wound. It was slightly infected, but a good shower and antibiotics and he could be fine. There wasn’t much Coran could do about this wound, besides rewrapping it; it was too wide for stitches, but he knew Keith was lucky at where he bit; a little more to the right, and he would have bit into an artery. 

“May I come closer to look at your shoulder?” Coran said, once he release Keith’s arm. Keith nodded, and angled himself so Coran could have a good look. Once the bandage was removed, Coran sighed. It looked bad, and more infected than the one on his arm. It would definitely need stitches, but he needed it cleaned and disinfected before he could do anything else. He looked to Lance.

“Lance, could I have a bowl of water, and the cleanest washcloth you have? I need to clean the wound more,” Lance nodded, getting out of his seat. Telling Keith that he’d be back, Lance left the room. Coran took a couple steps back from Keith to let him relax. He watched as Keith released a breath that he had been holding, before looking back at Coran. He saw Coran look over the scars on his torso and arms. Keith wanted to cover up, but knew he couldn’t, so he turned his gaze back towards the garden. 

“I’ve been through war, and seen many horrors. I know I may never know what you’ve been through, but I know you have been through hell. And I will tell you, so have I. If you ever feel the need to tell someone, even just something small, please do not hesitate to tell anyone of us. You can trust us, and if you let us, we can help you,” Coran spoke as he went through his bag to get the supplies he needed. Keith was staring at him again when he looked up, as if he was analyzing Coran. Keith bit his lip, mulling over thoughts, but looked away once Lance entered the room again. He set the bowl of water next to Keith; Coran noticed that Keith didn’t tense as much when it was Lance approaching him.

“I’m sorry to do this, but you are going to need stitches. I’m going to disinfect the wound first, and then apply a numbing cream so you won’t feel much pain. Lance, you may want to leave,” Lance looked over Keith in worry, before taking his chair again.  
“I’ll stay, but I won’t watch,” He set his hand close to Keith’s.

“If it hurts too much, just grab my hand,” Keith narrowed his eyes slightly, but then nodded.

XXXX

Hunk, Pidge and Shay jumped in surprise when they heard a pained yell come from the spare room. They did not want to know. Pidge jumped in surprise when her phone went off. Hunk looked at her in confusion. She waved him off, and headed for the porch. Hunk heard her say hello to someone named Shiro before the door closed behind her. Shay grabbed his hand taking his attention away. They smiled softly at each other. He could tell Shay was uncomfortable and worried about Lance’s guest, but he kissed her hand and some of the uncomfortable look shifted away.

“What’s wrong?” He asked her in a whisper. She sighed and cuddled closer to Hunk.

“I couldn’t help him enough,” Hunk shook his head and kissed her forehead.

“You did all you could. You’re just starting your medical education. He’ll be fine. I think you did a great job,” Shay giggled quietly at the forehead kiss, and placed her head on his shoulder. They sat there for a bit of time, before Hunk heard knocking at the window. He looked up and saw Pidge pointing at a pizza guy. He kissed Shay’s hand once more, before getting up.

Pidge was resuming her conversation when Hunk greeted the pizza guy. She was asking when someone was coming home, and huffed at the answer. Hunk glanced at her from the corner of his eye, but tried his best to not eavesdrop. If it was an important conversation, she’d tell them. He thanked the pizza guy and made sure to tip him, before heading back inside. He placed the boxes of pizza on Lance’s dining room table. He looked up from the table just in time to see Lance, whose tanned skin was a bit pale and looked a little sick, led Keith upstairs. A couple minutes later, he heard the shower turn on, and Lance came back downstairs. He watched his best friend plop down onto the couch and put his head in Shay’s lap. She giggled at Lance, before messing with his hair. He sighed in relief.

“I don’t know how you can be in the medical major. That was horrifying. My brother had to get stitches once, I never saw him get them, but now I never want to see someone get them,” Hunk laughed softly, leaning over the back of the couch, and watched his girlfriend coo over Lance to comfort him.

“Pizza’s here, dude,” Lance opened his eyes, and grimaced.

“May have lost my appetite over what I just saw,”

“Fine then. The double pepperoni is all mine then,” Lance pouted at his best friend, making Hunk smile even more.

“Nope. You share,” Lance stuck his tongue out at Hunk, and Hunk only shook his head. He looked up when Pidge came back in, and Coran entered the living room. The shower upstairs turned off as well. They all waited as they heard Keith move around upstairs, but acted nonchalantly when he came down the stairs to not make him nervous. Coran motioned for Keith to follow him, and after a couple minutes, Keith was re-bandaged and back into his borrowed pajamas. He looked around the group that was staring at him, and rubbed his uninjured arm in discomfort. He made a noise with his throat.

“Hi. I’m Keith,”

XXXX

Introductions were made by Lance, before they pulled Keith towards the dining table. They let him sit a little away from them, but kept him in any of their conversations. Hunk and Lance watched as Keith once again poked the food that was given to him, but smiled once he seemed to enjoy the pizza. Coran ate a slice or two, before leaving. He gave Lance a couple days off, which made Lance frown, but Coran patted his shoulder.

“Keith is going to need you more than I do. I’ll be back in a couple days to check his stitches. You can come back Monday, and you can bring him along as well,” It was Tuesday, and Lance made a face, but Coran only laughed, pulling him into a hug.

“See you on Saturday,” And with that Coran left. The group told Keith more stories about their friendships, and they were elated to see Keith smile at the funny ones. Once everyone was full, Lance cleared the table, and Pidge grabbed her laptop. Lance sat next to her, and she nudged him. On her laptop was a picture of a small boy grinning, missing a tooth, wearing a red shirt, and held a toy robot in his hand. The word ‘missing’ were above the photo; it hit Lance that this was Keith’s photo, and knew what Pidge wanted him to say. He sighed, and leaned onto the table. Hunk paused his story and looked at Lance.

“Hey, Keith. This is probably going to make you uncomfortable, but can you look at this photo?” Lance spoke up, and Pidge turned the laptop around and showed the rest of the group the photo. Keith looked confused, leaning closer to the photo, and read the information next to the photo.

“Ten years,” Keith’s quiet voice filled the room.

“It felt like longer,”

“Can you tell us what happened? Pidge might be able to contact your family. It says your dad is still in your hometown,” Keith’s head snapped up at that, and he started to glare.

“Do not contact that man, just don’t. I can’t tell you what happened. You will get hurt. Once I’m healed, I’m leaving,” They were shocked at how much he was saying, but it was Lance that spoke up.

“Why can’t you tell us? Who is going to hurt us? Are we in danger?” Keith shook his head.

“Please, I don’t want you all to get hurt. I don’t deserve the kindness you have given me, and I know I can’t pay you back. But, if I don’t tell you and they come searching for me, you won’t be hurt,” Keith stood from the table, and went for the hallway.

“If you don’t want us to contact your dad, what about your brother?” Pidge shouted after him, and made Keith freeze. He looked at her, turning slightly and glared at her. They all could see his eyes shine with tears.

“Takashi is better off not knowing I’m still alive, and I’ll be gone before you can get him here,” With that, Keith stalked down the hallway and disappeared into the spare room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you know Coran has a full name? Because I sure as heck didn't. It's apparently Coran Hieronymus Wimbleton Smythe, and I am shook.
> 
> hmu on tumblr: [chirithy](http://chirithy.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Oh right! I made a post about the flowers I associate with most of the Voltron characters. It's [here](http://chirithy.tumblr.com/post/160017305287/so-im-writing-a-voltron-fanfic-called-of/) if anyone wanted to know them.
> 
> Next chapter: The group discusses about Keith, plans are made, and Lance drags Keith into helping him with the garden.


	7. lisianthus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: there is a disassociation mention in this chapter. It comes after the second memory flash back.
> 
> Disassociation is different for everyone, so it may seem a bit off to some. I, myself, have episodes like Keith does in this chapter, where I kinda tune out and my body just keeps doing what it was doing or what it's supposed to.

_Dark cold eyes stared down at him. Just watching as he kicked and screamed and tried to get away from the hands holding him, pulling him away from his home. He screamed until his throat was raw, and felt tears soak his face._

_Those eyes just stared, emotionless. The man eventually turned away from the scene. And those eyes were the last thing he saw before the van door slammed shut._

XXXX

Consciousness swept over him like a wave of water; his breath stolen. Nightmares were nothing new to him, but nightmares dressed as memories were worse. Keith sat up in the bed, the blankets pooled around his waist. The digital clock on the bedside table told him it was 4 in the morning. His eyes felt weird, so he rubbed at them. He grimaced when his arm came back wet. He rubbed his arm against his eyes furiously to rid any evidence of tears. He could not show them to anyone.

His eyes hurt once his stopped, but he ignored the sting. He turned and put his feet onto the floor. He grabbed the empty water glass next to the clock. Lance had shown him how to get water earlier, and let him have free roam of the house, if Keith wanted. He made his way quietly through the hallway and paused at the sight he came to in the living room.

Pidge was asleep on the recliner chair, and Keith angled his head to match how she was. He didn’t think someone should sleep upside down, but at least her head was supported by the leg lift part. Someone had thrown a green striped blanket over her. Next to the recliner chair, Hunk was stretched across the couch under a yellow fuzzy blanket; Shay was nowhere in sight. Something was running on the television, filling the room with a soft light, but Keith paid it no mind. Keith only shrugged his shoulders and made his way quietly over to the kitchen area.

He sipped at the cool water once he had it. There was a warmth in his chest; it’s been there since Lance said he had the freedom of the house. It was the opposite of the compound; he was locked in a tiny room at all hours unless it was time for testing or training. He shut his eyes tightly, he need to shut out those thoughts. He needed to not think of the place ever again.

His footsteps padded quietly past the sleeping duo. Keith spared a glance up the stairs, towards Lance’s room, before continuing his way back to the room he was given. He looked to the bed and thought about going back to sleep. But remnants of the dream flashed before him, cold dark eyes staring at him. A chill rushed through him and he knew that he would get no more sleep. He went to the window ledge, and sat down, setting the glass of water on the nearby table. He brought his knees to his chest, and held them there. He looked to Lance’s garden.

Soft moonlight poured over the delicate flowers. He tried to remember all the ones Lance had pointed out, but only a few came to mind. He sighed and put his head against the top of his knees. Those cold dark eyes stared at him from the back of his mind, and his eyes burned with tears again.

They just had to mention his father.

XXXX

To no one’s knowledge, Lance tossed and turned most of the night away and only slept for a few hours. His thoughts were clouded about the person in his spare room, and the dangers he claimed he would bring. 7 in the morning found Lance staring at his curly mess of hair in the mirror. He looked at his flat iron from the bottom of his glasses, and only two words rang through his mind.

‘Fuck it,’ He brushed his teeth and washed his face, before leaving the bathroom without finishing his full morning routine. Once he opened his bedroom doors, a sweet smell reached his nose. He made his way downstairs very quickly and spotted Hunk in the kitchen, cooking. He grinned wildly and sat on his rocking chair to wait.

It didn’t take long for Hunk to come out of the kitchen, holding two plates piled high with pancakes. Once Hunk put the plates down and spotted Lance, he pointed at Pidge, giving Lance the job of waking her, before he went back into the kitchen. Lance hopped out of his chair and looked over his young friend. He poked at the bottom of her foot that was sticking up in the air, only for her to curl her toes and weakly kick at him. He chuckled and continued to tickle her. After a few moments, Pidge landed a hard kick into Lance’s stomach. He groaned in pain and slid to the floor. He looked up to see Pidge squinting at him; she stuck her tongue out at him, and he simply poked her nose. Pidge grabbed her glasses from the arm rest, and took a full look at Lance and giggled.

“Nice hair, nerd,” She arranged herself on the chair to sit up right. Her own hair was a complete mess, sticking up in every direction. He poked her nose once more as he stood, fixing his own glasses.

“Like you’re one to talk, geek,” He said, ruffling her hair into more of a mess. Pidge protested lightly, swatting at his hand, but got out of the chair. Hunk came back out of the kitchen, holding various things to put onto the pancakes. Hunk smiled as they walked closer to the table, but he pointed at Lance once more, as he reached for a plate.

“Nope, none for you yet. Go wake your other guest as well,” Lance pouted as Pidge took a seat and started grabbing pancakes, but he turned on his heel and headed for the spare room. He knocked on the door to alert Keith of his presence and opened the door. Upon seeing that Keith wasn’t in the bed, Lance looked to the window spot that Keith had claimed. Keith appeared to be asleep, curled in on himself, hugging his knees to his chest and his head against them.

“Hey Keith. Time to wake up, bud. Hunk made breakfast,” Lance said, as he reached his hand out to wake Keith.

“Please don’t touch me,” A voice came from Keith, and made Lance pause. Keith didn’t even seem to acknowledge him or even move. But once Lance moved his hand away, Keith lifted his head and stared at Lance and Lance stared back. Lance didn’t notice the day before, but Keith’s eyes were a dark purple, and Lance almost couldn’t look away. It, also, looked like the other man had slept almost as much as Lance did. Keith yawned and stretched, before he got off the window seat. Lance backed away to give him room as he stretched once more. He looked to Lance once he was done.

“You said something about breakfast?”

“You ever had pancakes?” Lance grinned wildly at Keith’s shrug; Keith couldn’t remember. He couldn’t wait for his reaction.

XXXX

Keith sat in the same spot he had the night before, his back to the kitchen and facing the other three. Hunk handed him a plate of three pancakes, and didn’t say anything as Keith poked at them. Satisfied with the reaction from the food, he went to dig in, only to stop when Lance spoke up,

“Don’t you want to put anything on them?” Keith looked back up at the group and watched. Lance raised an eyebrow, before he grabbed a bottle labeled maple syrup. Pidge was scraping the bottom of a jam jar, while Hunk recapped the lid to a bottle shaped like a bear.

“Lance, you’re out of blackberry jam,” Lance sighed at Pidge, as the girl smeared the remainder onto her pancakes.

“I’ll check my blackberry bushes to see if I have enough to make more,” He grinned as Pidge cheered, before cutting into her pancakes. Keith followed Lance’s example, and took the bottle of maple syrup, pouring some onto his pancakes. The smell was so sweet as he cut into his own pancakes. And once he took a bite, he had another flash of a memory.

_His brother was grinning down at him as he flipped something over in a frying pan. They both sang along to a song on the radio, and Keith was happy and smiling. Takashi finished the last pancake and placed it on the nearby plate. It was lumpier than what it probably should have been and Takashi looked slightly ashamed, but Keith had laughed and ate it anyway._

Keith was brought back to reality when someone asked him a question, and a shadow of a hand passed his eyes. He blinked, confused, and refocused onto the group. The trio was staring at him, and he tilted his head in confusion. Hunk pointed at Keith’s plate, causing Keith to look down; half the pancakes were already gone, and he didn’t remember eating more than the first bite.

“I was asking if they were good. But, your plate kinda answers my question,” Hunk said, with a smile. Keith mirrored him with a smaller smile to reassure him, before eating some more. He must have had a disassociation episode when he flashed back; he couldn’t control them, but he only remembered that they help back at the compound. He finished his pancakes off, and just listened to the trio of friends discuss their day.

“Shay should be here soon to pick me up. Ma says Mom isn’t feeling well, so I’m going to cover her shift at the diner. I’ll be back around 6, but I’ll send someone around noon to give you lunch,” Hunk said, as he used his phone to message someone. Lance seem to be pouting.

“Hunk, you know I can cook, right? I’ve been living on my own for almost two years now,” Hunk frowned and looked at Lance from over top Pidge’s head.

“Is that why your fridge is empty?”

“Ok, ok, you caught me. I need to go grocery shopping, just haven’t had the time,”

“Make me a list and I’ll bring some back later. You need to stay here,” Lance huffed and ran a hand through his messy hair.

“Fine, but I’m paying for them,” Hunk agreed to that, and stood to grab empty plates. Keith watched as what seemed to be Pidge’s phone vibrate across the table. She unlocked it and started to laugh.

“Hey Hunk. I’m going to need a ride home too. Rover is apparently picking a fight with Gunther,” Hunk’s laughter echoed from the kitchen, as Lance’s filled the room they were in, while Keith just looked even more confused.

“Why is your robot dog picking a fight with your real one?” Lance asked through his laughter. Pidge grinned and shrugged her shoulder, before she typed something on her phone.  


"I gave them a new code the other night to teach them new tricks, and it made them more playful, so that may be a factor,” Hunk leaned against the kitchen doorframe, and smiled at her.

“Shay won’t mind. But, be ready soon, she’ll be here in like 10 minutes,” Pidge nodded as she got out of her seat, presumably to go collect her things. Lance stood as well, before he took his glasses off to clean them, muttering about how he didn’t understand how maple syrup got onto them. Keith sat at his spot awkwardly, not really knowing what he should do. He jumped in the air when a loud ringing sound started to fill the room. Lance seemed to glance at him, before going to what seemed to be a phone attached to the wall.

“Hello? Oh, morning mama! What’s up?” Lance seemed to pause as someone spoke on the other side, and he smacked himself lightly on the head.

“Your flowers?! I forgot about your flowers. I’m so sorry. I’ll get them ready today, and maybe you can stop by to pick them up,” Lance grinned at the phone, before then frowning at something they said.

“Why can’t I come over? Well, um,” Lance looked over Keith, who tried to seem like he wasn’t eavesdropping, but it was kind of hard not to when he was sitting next to the phone.

“Oh! The storm! I need to prepare for the storm; gotta cover up the vegetable garden so they don’t drown, and make sure the flowers can take all the water. You don’t mind, do you? It’s going to be a bit of work,” The other person seem to laugh on the other side, making Lance grin.

“Nope, I don’t need help. I’ve got someone coming to help. Who? Oh, you don’t know them yet. New friend,” Keith and Hunk both seemed to raise an eyebrow at Lance. 

“Yep, see you at 4. Yep, day lilies and baby’s breath. Anything else? Lilacs? Ok, yeah I can do those. Love you, bye,” Lance hung up the phone, before turning back to the people looking at him. He pointed at Keith.

“Even though you’re injured, you’re helping me with my garden. This can be your payback for bleeding over my flowers. I’ll get you some work clothes,” With that, Lance made his way to the stairwell and went to his room, all the while, Hunk was chuckling behind Keith. Keith looked at him, still confused.

“He’s very protective over his garden,”

XXXX

10 minutes had passed, and that had found Keith and Lance waving goodbye at a car filled with Lance’s friends from the porch. Once the car disappeared down the road, Keith picked at the gauze wrapped around his arm, as he looked down at his new outfit. Lance had thrown a red shirt at him with a photo on it that Keith didn’t quite understand, a pair of tan shorts and red polka-dotted socks. Lance had gone through the entryway storage bench and pulled out an old pair of black boots, and gave them to Keith as well. They were a little big, but Keith didn’t mind. He looked over to Lance.

Lance was still wearing his glasses, but brushed his hair. His outfit consisted of more blues; a navy blue tank top with light blue shorts, as well as blue socks with stars on them, though they were hidden under blue canvas shoes. He grabbed a blue straw hat from the hat rack next to the door, and motioned for Keith to follow him. Keith was still confused as to what he was going to be doing.

They made their way off the porch, and towards the back of the house. Keith looked around him, taking in all the colors from the garden. He only had a limited view from the spare room, and this gave him a chance to actually see how truly massive Lance’s garden was. Lance stopped Keith before he walked into the gardening shed since he was paying attention, but grinned when he noticed where Keith’s attention was being placed.

“You don’t have to do much. Just hold the things I give you, and hand them to me when I ask for them. Once I put the tarps down over the vegetable garden, you can roam around and look,” Keith nodded, and held out his hands to take the things from Lance. He was handed a couple of folded up tarps, spikes and a spool of string, while Lance held a hammer. He followed Lance to the left side of the shed, and was astonished by the vegetable garden. Lance kneeled next to a bush at the entrance to the garden, and pulled a berry off the branch, eating it.

“Pidge is lucky. They’re ripe enough to be picked, I’ll get them after the flowers,” Lance talked to himself, as he led Keith over to the garden itself, and then he got to work. Keith couldn’t quite figure out what Lance was doing, and only handled over the materials he was asked for. Lance worked diligently for a good 30 minutes, before he was satisfied with how the protection over the vegetables looked.

Lance pretty much shooed Keith away to go wander the garden when it was time to collect the flowers for his mother. He knew she wanted to keep them alive for a little bit, so he would have them collect them root and all. Keith didn’t quite know where to start, but made his way over to the side he recognized the most; the lavender field outside his window. Keith kneeled over the lavenders and ran a finger over the soft petals, their smell reaching their nose. It was very calming to him. After he was done with them, he stood and wander some more. There was a red flower that caught his eye; the petal was deep red and almost looked like spider legs coming from underneath.

Keith lost track of time as he wandered; he found the blood splattered flowers Lance had mentioned, and steered clear away from the woods. He watched over Lance’s shoulder as he unearthed some pink flowers and transferred them to flowerpots; Lance didn’t seem to mind and told him what type they were, they were the day lilies his mother asked for. He left Lance alone when the other man went for the house, and instead went a different way. He found himself in front of the house, and a flash of yellow caught his eye towards the front of the yard. Keith knew those flowers, they were sunflowers; he walked closer. He decided to sit under the shade of the flowers, as the day was getting warmer.  


Fatigue hit him as he sat down, and not sleeping was starting to get to him. The ground under him was soft and cool to the touch. He wondered if Lance would notice if Keith took a nap here. There was only one way to find out, so Keith laid down under the shade of the sunflowers.

XXXX

Lance didn’t really notice Keith’s absence while he worked on preparing his mother’s flowers, and didn’t even notice as time seemed to fly be. Just as he finished the last of the flowerpots, he looked at the time to see it was almost noon. Whoever Hunk was sending over would be there soon, and Lance could only guess who his friend would send. He grabbed a couple of the flowerpots to set them on the porch, when he noticed someone standing on his front path. He recognized that bun of silver hair anywhere. He set the pots down, and walked off the porch. Allura’s attention was to the sunflowers not him, but he called out to her.

“Allura!!!” The woman looked away from the sunflowers and smiled at him, and continued to walk up the path to him. Her pink dress swayed in a slight breeze, before she gave him a hug. He returned before apologizing about some soil getting onto her. She waved him off, before pointing to the sunflowers,

“Why is there a man sleeping under your sunflowers?” She laughed wholeheartedly at Lance’s confused face, and followed him back to the sunflowers. Sure enough, there was Keith napping under the flowers. He didn’t even seem to mind he was covered in dirt.

“Oh good, your uncle is going to kill me,” Lance muttered to Allura, before making his way over to Keith.

“Coran would only laugh, but be glad he is resting. But, you will probably need to change his bandages,” Lance looked at her from over his shoulder. Of course, Coran told Allura about Keith; he tells her everything. He shrugged before he looked back to Keith. He didn’t know how Keith would react if Lance shook him awake or touch his shoulder; he knew the other man didn’t like being touched. He decided to move the sunflowers out of the way, and have the sun glare down onto Keith’s face. The man’s face scrunched up in annoyance.

“Hey Keith. Come on, dude, wake up. You shouldn’t be sleeping in the soil,” Keith’s eyes opened slightly, and he stared up at Lance. He sighed and sat up, before he rubbed at his eyes. Lance offered him a hand to help him up; Keith stared at it, thought for a moment, before taking the hand. Once Lance helped him off the ground, Keith brushed as much of the dirt off as he could.

“Can I help?” Lance asked, motioning to Keith’s back, where he couldn’t reach most of it. Keith frowned, but nodded, turning his back and letting Lance brush the dirt off his back. For once, he didn’t mind being touched. Keith’s attention was finally brought to Allura, who was smiling at both him and Lance. She waved at Keith when she realized he was looking at her. Lance patted Keith’s shoulder once he was done, Keith’s attention then turning to Lance’s smile. Allura rustled a bag that she held.

“Alright, boys, who’s hungry?” At that moment, both Keith’s and Lance’s stomachs both growled, causing Allura to laugh again.

“Well, that answers my question. Come on, Hunk sent some goodies for you both,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Allura meets Keith, Keith meets Lance's mom, and Keith talks some about the compound.
> 
> Talk to me on tumblr (I'm kinda desperate for attention). I'll answer any question I can about of starflowers and scars, as long as it's not too spoilery. I also track the 'of starflowers and scars' tag too (Wanted to use osas, but that links to some nsfw stuff, so avoid that one). Tumblr: [chirithy](http://chirithy.tumblr.com/)


	8. day lilies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Keith has a PTSD panic attack in this chapter. It starts with 'Keith fucked up' and ends with 'the man in the mirror'. I just wanted to warn people. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter!!

When Keith opened the take-out container, he was faced with noodles and some sort of meat under a yellow sauce. He didn’t seem to notice how Allura watched him poke his food once more. Lance only shrugged her off when she looked to him questioningly. Lance opened his own container to reveal he had the same as Keith.

“Oh, it’s Hunk’s chicken scampi. It’s one of the specials at the restaurant,” Lance explained to Keith, as he started to twirl his noodles onto his fork. Keith watched how Lance got the noodles and followed his example. He hummed in delight at the flavor; he really like Hunk’s cooking. He ate his food in silence, while Lance and Allura talked.

“So…talk to Nyma yet?” Lance asked after he swallowed some food. Allura groaned and was tempted to throw her bread roll at him. Lance laughed at her, waiting for her answer.

“No. The café she works at is always busy when I go, and that’s been the only place I’ve been able to see her,” She sighed before she began to eat her own food. Lance patted her head in sympathy, only for her to pinch the back of his hand. He grinned at her,

“Need a wingman?” She frowned at him and a deadpan ‘no’ was her answer. Keith chewed his food slowly, watching the pair with curiosity. Allura looked away from Lance and turned to Keith. She giggled at the sight of him slurping his noodles and getting sauce onto his face. She handed him some napkins.

“So, Keith, how are you liking it here? Lance treating you right?” Allura ignored Lance’s whine of ‘hey’ and waited for Keith’s answer. Keith finished his bite of food, before nodding.

“It’s nice. I like the flowers,”

“That’s your answer? You just like the flowers. I see how it is, don’t like the person caring for you,” Lance cut in, but Keith shrugged his shoulder, continuing his response.

“Lance is nice too, so are Hunk, Shay, and Pidge. But, the flowers… I haven’t seen this much color in a long time. The place where I was felt devoid of life, while this place is filled with it,” Keith finished his meal, closing the container. He stood from the table.

“Thank you for the food. I’m going to go wash my face, and change my clothes,” Lance and Allura watched as Keith quickly walked out of the room. Lance was slightly in shock and was trying to figure out if he Keith correctly; that Keith actually spoke about where he was without being prompted.

XXXX

Keith fucked up.

He forced himself to breathe. He gripped the bathroom countertop so tightly that his knuckles started to turn white. The words just spilled out of his mouth, and he couldn’t stop himself.

Now he was thinking about the compound and he couldn’t stop. He was starting to feel the needles in his skin, the punches from training. He could feel the rawness of his throat when he had screamed so much during a procedure with no anesthesia. He could hear the main doctor’s voice; her voice cold and sharper than daggers. He could remember being held so tightly his arms bruised while the doctor analyzed him. Her words were ‘welcome to your new home. We hoped you enjoyed the outside world while you could,’

He couldn’t remember colors, what the wind felt like on his face, the feel of a soft bed, the taste of real food, what it was like to not be in pain, his brother’s face and voice.

He was being stared at, he could just tell. He looked up, found himself looking at his reflection. But the image shifted, and that man’s face was staring back at him with those cold dark eyes. He yelped, backing away and went to punch the man in the mirror.

XXXX

Lance and Allura jumped in fright when they heard a yelp and what seemed to be glass smashing from the bathroom. Lance told Allura to stay where she was as he made his way to the bathroom. He gave a swift knock, barely giving Keith time, before he opened the door. The other man was kneeling on the floor, clutching at his head, his right fist was bloody. Lance kneeled down next to Keith, only for the other to back away more into the wall.

“Don’t touch me. Get away, he’s here. You’ll get hurt too,” Keith was starting to curl into himself more, and started to hyperventilate. Lance looked around the small room.

“Who’s here, Keith?” Keith pointed upwards, not looking up, making Lance notice the broken mirror. But, that was all that Lance saw. Keith’s bloodied hand started to shake, and Lance grabbed it carefully. Keith flinched, but didn’t tear his hand away.

“There’s no one besides the two of us, Keith. I need you to look at me. You’re going to hurt yourself more if you don’t breathe,” Keith’s head moved slightly and Lance could see his eyes from under his bangs. They were glassy and ready to shed tears, but they were starting to focus on him.

“Listen to me. You need to breathe, do what I’m doing. 4 in, hold for 7, out for 8,” Lance breathed like that as an example, but Keith didn’t follow. Lance cursed loudly and use his other hand to lift Keith’s head up more to get him to look at Lance fully.

“Breathe with me. 4 seconds in, hold for 7, then release for 8,” Keith was starting to understand and started to take shaky breaths. This went on for several minutes, until Keith’s shaking was mostly gone. Keith looked away from Lance,

“I’m sorry,”

“For what?”

“Your mirror,” Lance cursed again, and sighed,

“Who cares about the mirror? Are you feeling better?” Keith nodded his head.

“My hand hurts,” He pointed at his bloodied hand, and Lance laughed dryly,

“No duh,” A knock on the bathroom door took away their attention, and Allura stood there, holding the first aid kit. Lance smiled at her, before he helped Keith get off the floor and got him to sit on the lid of the toilet. Allura handed over the kit and Lance set it on the countertop before opening it. They worked in silence, Allura handing over the first aid supplies while Lance fixed up Keith’s hand. Once everything was done, and the first aid kit snapped shut, Keith could only say one thing.

“I’m sorry,” Both Lance and Allura waved him off, before Lance helped him stand. Keith was still a little shaken, and Lance and Allura knew the aftermath of panic attacks in their own way.

“Its fine, Keith. Things happen. Why don’t you go change your clothes,” Lance said, as they all exited the small bathroom. Keith nodded, going down the hall to the spare room, while Allura and Lance went towards the living room. Allura grabbed Lance’s arm to make him turn towards her.

“Do you think he’s going to be fine? What brought that on?” She looked to the hallway, waiting for Keith to return.

“He doesn’t talk about where he came from. Even though what he gave us was a small tidbit, it could have been a trigger. He’s most likely have gone through a lot, so he might not be alright for a while. But, we can help him as much as we can,” Lance said with a sad smile. 

He knew a few who had a panic disorder. Lance, himself, had anxiety, but didn’t deal with many panic attacks. While Hunk was the one who had a severe anxiety disorder, and had frequent panic attacks. He didn’t know how badly this attack would affect Keith, but he knew the other man was going to be exhausted. Lance smiled to himself, he knew what he was going to do. It was time for Operation Calm, which was usually reserved for Hunk and the others, but it would hopefully work for Keith all the same.

“I have an idea on how we’ll pass the rest of the day. I’ve got him. No worries, Allura,” Lance smiled at her and she smiled back reassured.

“I have to go. I’m actually covering your shift at the Lion’s Den,” Allura shushed Lance as he tried to apologize.

“Lance, it’s alright. I barely get to see Coran anyway, with me being in school. But, it’s break now, so I volunteered. Besides, Keith needs you more right now,” Allura gave him one more hug, before letting him go and smiling at him. Lance smiled back, and they both looked down the hallway to find Keith back in the pajamas and hoodie. He looked hesitant, like he wanted to go back and just shut himself away in the spare room. But, before he could, Lance called out to him.

“Hey Keith. Allura’s about to leave. You wanna say good bye?” Keith looked up from the floor to the two of them, and pulled his hoodie sleeve down over his newly bandaged hand. Allura smiled at Keith as he made his way down the hall.

“It was very nice to meet you, Keith. I’ll be coming with Coran on Saturday to see you again, if that’s fine with you,” Keith nodded and then watched as Lance walked Allura to the door. She looked back and gave him a wave, which Keith shyly returned.

Once the door closed behind Allura, Lance turned to Keith with a smile on his face.

“The rest of the day is our until Mama shows up, and I’ve got some ideas,”

XXXX

Some time had passed and it found Keith sitting on the couch watching some guy on the television travel around the world for evidence of old myths and legends. Lance had given him a mug of chocolate milk, which he pretty much drained before setting the cup on the coffee table. Lance had raided the cupboard underneath the stairwell and gave Keith a fuzzy red blanket, while grabbing a blue one for himself and sitting on the recliner chair.

“Man, this guy is going to get himself and his crew stuck in a cave one day,” Lance commented on the show, before looking over at Keith, who seemed a bit subdued. He went to say something when a knock came upon the door. Confused, Lance turned in his chair and found his mom waving at him from the front window. He grinned and waved back, before he got out of the chair. Opening the door, Lance was instantly pulled into a hug.

“Hi mama,” His mother, Marisol, pulled his head down slightly to kiss his forehead, making him smile even more. He tightened the hug for a moment before releasing her, and letting her into the house. She blinked in surprise when she noticed Keith looking at them from the couch. Marisol walked closer to him to get a full look at him. He waved at her awkwardly.

“Why hello there. You must be Lance’s new friend. What’s your name?” She sat down, taking Lance’s seat, which made Lance huffed. Lance grabbed both chocolate milk mugs, before going towards the kitchen.

“I’m Keith,” 

“So how’d you meet my son? Why’d you get roped into helping with the garden?” She questioned, Keith looked towards the kitchen nervously, not knowing quite how to answer.

“I, uh, accidentally stepped on some of Lance’s flowers. I volunteered to help as an apology,” Keith quickly lied, but Marisol only nodded happily. Lance came out of the kitchen with refilled mugs, and a cup of lemonade for his mother. Marisol accepted the cup, before Lance sat on the couch next to Keith, placing the mugs on the coffee table.

“Keith’s new to town. He was trying to get used to the town, but got lost and found himself here. I saw someone in my garden, stepping on my flowers, and came out yelling. He apologized and helped me out, so now he’s my friend,” Lance said, making up a story, before sipping from his mug. 

“At least he apologize and helped out. Oh goodness, I remember when Marco accidentally fell into your patch of daisies, you didn’t talk to him for a week when he said that they were only flowers,”

“Well, Marco’s a jerk. Flowers are awesome,”

“I know, sweetie. But, he’s still your older brother, you got to love him,” Lance made a face that made his mother laugh at him, before drinking more of his milk.

Lance and his mother talked for a bit, while Keith continued to watch the TV show marathon. He was trying to keep his mind occupied from the thoughts about the compound. He knew that they were going to overwhelm him more; he guessed Lance was right, maybe talking to someone about the compound would help some. Maybe they could hide him better before the compound came looking. Later, he decided, he’ll talk later, when the others that helped him were also here. Marisol’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts, when she spoke to him.

“Keith, are you staying for dinner?” He nodded, it wasn’t like he could lie. Marisol looked to her son,

“Lance, what are you making?” Lance rubbed the back of his head embarrassed.

“Well, uh, mama. I’m not making dinner. Hunk is coming over, so is Pidge and Shay, and he’s making dinner for all of us,” At least this wasn’t a lie, Lance thought to himself, and he was glad when his mother let it go. 

An hour had come and passed as they talked, and Marisol’s cell phone began to ring. It’s was Lance’s father to tell her that dinner was done at her own home. With that, she stood from her seat, with Lance following behind her. Keith went to wave goodbye at her, when he was pulled into a hug by surprise. He stiffened, not knowing what to do, but Marisol pulled away quickly, and smiled at him.

“I’ll see you again, Keith,” He nodded mutely, and watched her walk away. Lance looked him over worryingly, but Keith waved him off. Lance followed his mother onto the porch, grabbing the flowerpots for her. She grabbed one herself, before they made their way to her car. Marisol spoke to Lance once they set the flowers in the car.

“I didn’t mean to surprise him like that. He looked like he kind of needed one,” Lance smiled at his mother, before he hugged her himself. He backed away some after he released her, putting his hands in pants pocket. 

“He’s not really used to people being nice to him and being a bit touchy. But I don’t think he minded. He’s had a bad day today,” Marisol nodded, understanding. She got into her car, rolling her window some.

“Be good, Lance. I love you,”

“Love you too, mama,”

XXXX

Hunk had pulled up right after Marisol had left, and Lance watched as his friend hopped out of the car. He waved at them from the front gate, and walked over to help bring in groceries. He noticed there were a few things of junk food in the bags, and knew his friends were staying over again. He really should clean out the other guest rooms if this was going to keep happening.

Keith looked up when the front door opened, and watched as the group of friends set a bunch of bags onto the dining room table. Hunk and Lance shooed the girls away as they put the groceries away. Pidge had claimed the recliner seat, while Shay walked over towards the couch.

“Hello, Keith. Do you mind if I sit with you?” He shook his head, and scooted over, making the dark skinned girl smile brightly. Keith didn’t have much interaction with Shay the night before, but he didn’t really mind her presence. Shay picked up Lance’s blue blanket, and folded it before she sat down on the couch. She left the middle part unoccupied to give Keith some space, and he was grateful. He was startled when Pidge looked over the recliner chair towards the kitchen and yelled,

“Lance! Why are you making Keith watch _Expedition Unknown_ when you know there are better things on,” Keith disagreed silently, the show he was watching was sort of interesting, but he didn’t protest when the smaller girl grabbed the remote and changed the channel. A title flashed across the screen, and suddenly Keith didn’t mind Pidge’s choice of shows. He could deal with things about aliens.

While Keith, Pidge and Shay watched the new show on the screen, Lance and Hunk talked in the kitchen. Hunk was starting to set up to make dinner, while Lance finished putting away the groceries.

“So, I heard from Allura. I’m guessing you’re using Operation Calm,” Hunk looked over at his best friend, who nodded.

“It seems to be helping him. Maybe it was just the mindless documentary shows I made him watch. Those always calmed me and you both down,” Lance said, as he closed the fridge door. Hunk nodded, and he was glad that Keith was feeling better now. Operation Calm started for just only Hunk, but it soon became something for their entire friend group; for Pidge with her dysphoric days, they’d watch alien and conspiracy shows and eat peanut butter cookies; for Shay when she was overworked, they’d all gather on Lance’s porch and watch the sunset and stargaze; and for Lance, they usually wound up watching space documentaries. Even Allura had some days where she needed Operation Calm, and Lance and the group always welcomed her with open arms. Lance smiled to himself; he really loved all of his friends. 

Lance jumped up and sat onto the kitchen counter top, far away from Hunk’s area so he wouldn’t get yelled at, and watched his friend work.

“So what are you making us anyway?” Hunk turned and looked at Lance with a smile on his face.

“You’ll see,”

XXXX

The smells coming from the kitchen were making Keith’s stomach grumble; it smelt so good, and he wondered what it was. Both Shay and Pidge were wondering the same, but they all waited and just continued to watch the television, until it was time for dinner. They managed to watch two more episodes of alien show when Lance came out of the kitchen to tell them it was time.

They all got up, and went to the table, just as Lance and Hunk were setting down the food. A bowl of white rice was placed in front of Keith, while a larger bowl containing what seemed to be a mixture of beef strips and green beans in some sort of sauce was placed next to the rice. Hunk told everyone to dig in, while he and Lance got a pitcher of water and glasses for the table.

Keith took his first bite, and found the sauce to be spicy, but not so much that he couldn’t handle it. It went well with the rice. He thanked Hunk, once the larger man sat down; Hunk only smiled at him. Dinner talk was filled with more stories about the group’s friendship. Keith liked the one where Pidge and Lance scared Pidge’s brother with a giant fake spider and a small remote control car. He could really tell that these people cared a lot about each other, and was starting to care for him.

Once dinner was done and the dirty dishes taken away, Hunk came back out of the kitchen holding two plates filled with cookies, while Lance had many mugs of different milks. The group talked more, and never noticed that the sun had set outside, making it darker. Keith was comfortable, and was laughing. He knew it was time. He cleared his throat, once everyone stopped talking for a moment, and they all looked at him.

“I know I’ve already said before, but really I can’t thank you enough,” He cut Lance off, when the other man was going to say that it was nothing.

“And I just wanted to say that I changed my mind,” The group was now looking at him confused. Lance broke the silence.

“Changed your mind about what?” Keith fidgeted with the bandage on his hand, before looking up at all of them.

“I think I want to tell you about what happened to me,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Operation Calm is kind of my go-to thing for whenever I have panic attacks. I usually grab my favorite blanket, and just put on a bunch of documentaries. Expedition Unknown is my go-to, just because I like stuff about lost history.
> 
> You can talk to me about anything really on tumblr: [chirithy](http://chirithy.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Next chapter: Keith talks about the compound.


	9. nightshade

And so he spoke.

To Keith, it seemed like a militaristic cult called the Galra. They seemed obsessed with making perfect soldiers, though they kept the strongest for themselves. The others were sent to the various military branches. They only had one cause and that was when they were ready, they would attempt to overthrow the US government. Keith didn’t really know how they were planning that; he was just put through the training and medical procedures. He usually tuned out during the mass lectures by the higher ups.

Disobedience and weakness were not tolerated. If one hesitated, even for a moment, they were done. Some were terminated, some were let go, others just became test subjects for the doctors and never seen again. Everyone was stripped of their names, were given a serial number, and treated like lab rats. Keith never understood why there were so many people at the compound. He heard that some people volunteered, believing in the Galra’s cause; others were taken off the street, the type of people no one seemed to care about. But then, there were ones like Keith.

The Galra had to earn their money somehow. It was mostly illegal, but they always somehow covered their asses. 

One way were gambling rings. Keith never learned the full details, but his brother couldn’t hide that their father had a problem. It started after Keith’s mother had passed away, Ryou had turned to alcohol and gambling to cope. He had pretty much forced Takashi to grow up at a young age and take care of Keith, and he had done the best that he could. Keith still couldn’t remember much of his childhood, but he knew Takashi was always there for him.

When Keith turned 8, Takashi was 18 and had gotten a letter in the mail. Keith couldn’t remember where it was or what it was called, but Takashi had gotten accepted into a school he only dreamt about. He had doubts about leaving Keith behind, but Keith had known that this was his brother’s dream, and yelled at him to not let it go. And so Takashi left and Keith couldn’t remember if he came back or not, but Keith hadn’t cared, as long as his brother was happy.

After Takashi left, their father got worse and had somehow got involved with the Galra. It was most probable that he had most likely gotten into debt with them. But, the Galra had given Ryou a way out; all he had to do was give them Keith.

Keith will always remember his last day at his home. He had talked to Takashi in the morning to tell him how excited he was for school to start soon. Then, after he hung up, he went outside to play, but to mostly avoid his father. The older man had been acting weird around Keith for a week or so; he wasn’t really acknowledging him, wouldn’t look at him or anything, but Keith had shrugged it off. Keith was playing with his toy planes when a white van had started to pull up towards their house. He stood from where he was sitting and called for his father. No one ever really visited their house, and Keith knew it was not Takashi. His father came out the front door just as the van parked and three people hopped out. They were all staring at Keith and Keith grew scared.

“Is that the boy?” He remembered one asking, and his father only nodded. It was then when Keith was grabbed by his arms. He dropped his toys and looked to his father, struggling in the men’s grips. He searched for answers on his father’s face, but Ryou only stared, not moving, not showing any emotion. Keith started to scream at him. It was mostly questions that went unanswered. 

“What’s going on?”

“Why are they touching me? They’re hurting me!”

“Where are they taking me?”

“Why aren’t you answering me?”

“Did I do something wrong?”

“Why?”

Keith screamed, wishing for answers, wishing for someone to hear him. But, no one did. The van door slammed shut in front of his face, and the people holding him put tape over his mouth to stop his screaming, and then bound his arms. After that, Keith cried and watched the hours go by until he arrived at the compound.

Keith wasn’t lying when he said his time at the compound felt longer. But Keith did know that his time at the compound was going to be over soon. He had been told by one of the commanding officers that they were going to decide his fate soon. Either he was going to be sent away or kept for the Galra militia. Keith wanted neither. Keith had wished for termination many times during his stay, but never got it and he knew that it was too late for that. He had, also, heard rumors of people actually escaping, but only a few. Keith wondered if he could do the same. So he planned.

Keith stole an ID card that could unlock his door, and started to map out the corridors to find the exit out. He looked for camera blind spots as well. It took him some time, but the day before he would get the response from the higher ups about his fate, he made his escape. Keith wasn’t really surprised when all the training he had received throughout the years had helped him out. What he didn’t anticipate was for them to perform room checks that night. The alarms started to go off just as Keith was nearing the exit, and Keith could hear shouting and people running. Keith ran faster.

The commanding officer from before, Sendak, had met Keith at the exit door, brandishing a knife. Keith tried to protect himself as much as he could, but knew Sendak was on a higher level than him. That’s how he ended up with the shoulder wound. Sendak had started to corner Keith, as Keith tried to apply pressure on the bleeding wound; he was about to get the termination he sought. Keith was confused when Sendak jerked to a stop and started to convulse. He fell to the ground to reveal another man holding a taser. Keith knew this man as well; his name was Thace, and he was a higher level commanding officer than Sendak, right below the lead doctor. Thace knocked Sendak out completely and helped Keith stand. He bunched up some of Keith’s shirt around his shoulder and pressed against Keith’s wound. Then, Thace started to drag Keith towards the exit. Keith didn’t really understand, but he wasn’t complaining.

The door opened and Keith took his first breath of fresh air in years. Thace started to pull him more and got him as far away as he could to a hole in the fence covered by bushes. Keith could barely see the compound anymore, but could still hear the alarms. Thace didn’t talk much, but had shown him where the tracking device was in his arm and then wished him luck. And then Keith ran.

He hit a river after a couple of miles, and took a moment to search for the tracking device in his arm. Once it was found, he bit into his arm and dug it out, then throwing it as far as he could, letting the river take it. Keith chose to walk upstream in the water to cover his track and just walked as far as he could. He walked until dawn broke, and then kept walking for the whole day, only occasionally getting water from the stream. He found himself in a dark forest once the sun had set once more. He rested some, accidentally causing his shoulder wound to open up and bleed more. He only applied more pressure and kept walking until he eventually passed out in Lance’s garden.

XXXX

Keith never noticed that Pidge was recording his entire story. But, the group didn’t know how they wanted to react when it was done. Keith wouldn’t even look up at them, choosing instead to mess with the bandages on his hand.

“So these people, do you think they’ll keep searching for you?” Lance broke the silence. Keith bit his lip nervously; he didn’t really know. There were only rumors of people escaping, and he didn’t know if anyone were recaptured or got away completely. For all Keith knew, he could be the first to escape by his own will.

“I’m not really sure. That’s why I want to leave when I’m better. I can’t go back, no. I won’t go back, no matter what,” Keith looked up at the group, a steely resolve in his eyes.

The room settled into an uncomfortable silence; no one really knew what to say or do after Keith’s reveal. Outside, they all could start to hear the downpour of rain and a low rumbling of thunder.

Lance thought of the picture of a younger Keith that Pidge had found, and he couldn’t understand. Family was everything to Lance, even his friends were adopted into his family. He couldn’t understand how Keith’s father could do this to him. He had only known Keith a couple days, and he was already protective over him. He decided to say ‘fuck it’; Keith was now inducted into his family, and Lance was not going to let him be taken. He clenched his jaw, and with anger rushing through him, Lance spoke up.

“Screw those people, and screw your dad. We’ll keep you safe and make sure these people won’t find you again,” Everyone was looking at him with various emotions. Lance could see Pidge and Shay were agreeing with him and thinking the same, Hunk was worried but he nodded at Lance, while Keith was just confused.

“Lance, you don’t know what these people can do,” Keith couldn’t deny the flush of warmth in his chest when Lance said they’d protect him, but he didn’t want any of these people to get hurt because of him.

“Bull. You said it yourself, you don’t know how they react to people escaping. They probably already forgot about you. And even if they didn’t, you said you covered your tracks. It might take them a while to figure out where you are, and even if they come looking, we’ll just hide you again. You’re not going back, Keith,” Keith looked around at the group after Lance was done speaking and could see that everyone was agreeing with Lance. His eyes started to sting again, and he quickly hid his eyes, wiping at them.

He sighed with relief; he couldn’t believe that the safe feeling he felt at this home was going to continue on. Lance got up from his seat and moved to the one next to Keith, and touched his shoulder. Keith barely flinched, but he looked up at him, and returned a smile that slightly mirrored Lance’s. Lance patted Keith’s shoulder once more, before grinning to his friends. They needed a distraction after all this, and he had an idea.

“Alright, enough of the bad stuff. Shay, grab the cookies and move the couch over some. Pidge, you’re on movie duty. Hunk, help me out with grabbing the comfy chair from my office,”

XXXX

Once the furniture was rearranged and a new reclining chair joined in, the group took their seats in front of the television. Pidge took over her chair once more, while Shay sat inbetween Hunk and Lance on the couch. Keith got the new chair, which was placed next to Lance’s spot on the couch, opposite of Pidge’s. Pidge put on a cartoon movie that Keith could vaguely remember from his childhood and he was getting invested in it. Keith’s awed look at the screen made Lance smile more.

“Hey Lance,” Pidge tried to whisper over to him even though she was a bit away from him. None really minded though. He looked over at her and saw her holding her phone, looking at him.

“My brother is coming home early, and heard Allura was going to be here on Saturday. So he and his friend want to come over as well. Is that alright?” Lance raised an eyebrow, but shrugged off his confused feeling.

“Yeah, sure. Since I’ve got a bunch of people coming over, guess me and Hunk will just make a bunch of food and make a party out of it. Who’s Matt’s friend? One of his science bros from school?” Pidge typed on her phone, before she looked up at him.

“Actually, it’s one of his Garrison friends. Don’t worry about it,” She grinned at him, and Lance could tell she was up to something. He let her be, whatever she was planning was probably harmless.

While Pidge and Lance spoke, Keith watched the movie. An older sister was holding her little sister trying not to cry, and talk about the little one going away. Keith’s heart started to hurt; the older sister reminded him of Takashi. Maybe if he was staying, no, since he was staying, he could reach out to his brother. He held a fist to his chest, near his heart. 

Would his brother even recognize him or even remember him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: A couple days in Keith's new life, Lance prepares for a bunch of people in his home, and everyone meets Matt's mysterious friend.
> 
> Talk to me or ask me anything on Tumblr: [chirithy](http://chirithy.tumblr.com/)


	10. ivy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, um, hi.
> 
> I really want to apologize for the really long hiatus I took, but I didn't have any internet until just recently. My rent and groceries are kind of more important than internet so I went without until now.
> 
> Also, another factor in why this hiatus took so long was that this chapter gave me so much trouble. I had constant writer's block but I finally was able to finish the chapter and actually like what I wrote.
> 
> So I hope you guys forgive me and I hope you enjoy the chapter!!!!

After _Lilo and Stitch_ had ended, Lance raided the linen cupboard for everyone’s blankets. A green one was flung at Pidge’s head, while Hunk easily caught the yellow one and spread it across himself and Shay. He closed the closet and sat back down on the couch, covering himself with his favorite blue one. He grabbed the red blanket Shay had folded earlier and handed it over to Keith. The other man had quietly thanked him, before his attention was brought back to the television. Shay could only stay for one more movie before her brother, Rax, would come for all of their heads, so the group agreed to let her choose the next one. Lance smile and got more comfortable as a new movie started.

After Shay had left, the movie marathon had continued on for a couple more hours, until everyone started to get tired and were practically falling asleep. Lance got off the couch so Hunk could spread out and sleep. He made Pidge get up and go sleep on the couch in his office. She grumbled, but didn’t complain as she flopped onto the other couch, and was then out like a light. It made Lance smile before he made his way over to Keith. He almost didn’t want to wake the other up; he looked more relaxed, curled up under the blanket, facing the now off TV. Lance touched his shoulder gently and Keith only opened his eyes. He yawned before looking up at Lance in confusion.

“Time for bed,” Keith nodded sleepily, before he stood, wrapping the blanket around him more and making for the spare room. Lance followed behind and then turned to go up the stairs, but Keith’s voice made him pause.

“Night, Lance,” Lance looked down the hall to see Keith smiling slightly, his face alit from the light of the spare room. Lance smiled back, and gave a small wave.

“Night, Keith,” With that, Keith closed himself into the spare room, and Lance went upstairs. Once in his room, he changed into his night clothes and laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling. He thought over what he had learned about Keith this night, and about the promise Lance had made to keep him safe. He didn’t regret the promise and was glad his friends agreed with him. The weight of the day was finally weighing on him and his eyes grew heavy. Lance fell asleep to the sound of rain hitting his window.

XXXX

Keith awoke on Thursday morning to find the rain still falling. It had been a long while since he had seen the rain, and maybe even longer since he felt it on his skin. He got out of bed, moving towards the window seat. He wasted no time in opening the window. An earthy smell mixed with the rain instantly reached his nose and a sigh escaped him. He reached out his uninjured hand and let the rain hit him; it felt so cool and gentle on his skin. He bit his lip when a rush of emotion surged through him. He felt free.

Keith got onto the window seat fully without taking his hand back inside. He leaned against the window, relishing in the wetness on his skin, and just watched the rain fall. He smiled to himself. He could get used to this.

XXXX

Lance awoke to Pidge using the same technique he used the day before on her: tickling his feet. He grimaced and curled his feet more under the blanket and closer to him.

“Oh come on. Fine, have it your way then,” Pidge said, making Lance smile under the blanket. He could hear the girl walk away a couple steps and snuggled into his bed more, happy for more sleep. That feeling, however, went away quickly when he heard fast footsteps running towards his bed, and then the weight of a person landing hard onto him. He yelped in pain and heard Pidge giggle on top of him. Lance moved and uncovered himself some to glare at the girl on top of him, but apparently the sight of him only made her laugh more.

“Good morning, starshine, the earth says hello,” She said, when she finally stopped laughing. Lance groaned once more, grabbing his pillow and covered his face with it.

“Hunk’s making breakfast, but I guess if you want to sleep more, I’ll just take your share,” Lance sat up quickly, making Pidge tumble off of him.

“Oh no, you don’t, you little gremlin,” She only smirked in response and jumped off his bed. She started to run as soon as her feet touched the floor.

“Hunk! Lance says I can have all his food!”

“No, I didn’t!” Lance shouted after her, getting up as well to chase after her. Pidge was already at the table when Lance made it to the last step. Hunk was looking at them from the kitchen entrance, highly amused. He shook his head at them, before placing breakfast down on the table.

“I’ll save your breakfast, go get Keith,” Lance grinned at Hunk, thanking him before he turned on his heel and went for Keith’s room. He knocked once before he opened the door, his eyes automatically going towards the window perch. Keith turned his head to meet Lance’s gaze, not withdrawing his hand from the rain. Lance sat down onto the chair near the window perch, and watched the rain fall with Keith for a few moments.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen rain,” Keith’s voice broke the silence, making Lance look over at him. Keith was still fixated on the rain. Lance frowned and thought of what else Keith had missed in his life. He almost asked, but he heard Hunk call their names. Lance hopped out of his seat, motioning for Keith to follow him out of the room for breakfast.

XXXX

Breakfast went by pretty quickly and after Lance finished cleaning the dishes, he found himself watching the rain fall from his front window. At least, he didn’t have to worry about his garden today. He turned to Hunk, who was reading a book on the couch.

“Not that I don’t mind, but how long are you staying here, Hunk?” Hunk looked up from his book, and thought for a moment, before he answered.

“Until Keith is cleared by Coran. Just to help you out,” Lance nodded, he could accept that. He looked to Pidge sitting at the table, typing on her computer.

“Pidge, what about you?” She didn’t even look away from her computer as she answered.

“When Matt comes home, but I’m staying until Sunday,” Lance hummed at her answer, looking towards the second floor. He glanced at Pidge’s computer and only saw code.

“Is what you’re working on really important?” That made Pidge look up at him, she only shrugged.

“It’s just new code for Rover. Why?” She narrowed her eyes at Lance when he grinned. She could tell he was planning something, and he only held his hand up in defense. 

“Well, I’m guessing that you two want to actually sleep in actual beds,” Pidge raised an eyebrow at him, but nodded. Lance knew his office couch wasn’t the most comfortable.

“You just got to help me clean a little bit,” Pidge shrugged, turning back to her computer to save her work and Lance turned to see Hunk stand from the couch. He could see Keith watching the whole exchange from the recliner. Lance had a plan for him as well.

XXXX

Hunk chose the bedroom right next to Lance’s. It didn’t need much to be done, probably just fresh linens on the beds and to be aired out some. Hunk got to work instantly and Lance let him be and let him do what he wanted with the room.

Pidge chose the room right next to the stairwell. That one was a little worse than the one Hunk had chosen. Lance used the other two rooms upstairs as storage. This room contained several boxes of books that Lance couldn’t put in his office and when he had run out of room in the living room book shelves. He helped Pidge move the boxes off the bed and walking space. He opened the windows to air the room out, while she ran for bedsheets and more pillows.

Once the rooms Pidge and Hunk chose were clean enough to their liking, Lance let them go continue what they were doing before. He, then, called for Keith to follow him to the last spare room upstairs. This room is where Lance kept his spare clothes. He knew Keith was going to need more clothes. He’d have to take Keith clothes shopping once Coran clears his health so he could have some to call his own, but for now Lance’s hand-me-downs would have to do. Though they would be a little big on Keith since he was a bit smaller and shorter than Lance. He let Keith rummage through the many boxes and bags of clothes, letting him take whatever clothes suited his fancy. Lance noticed that Keith favored the color red more even though Lance didn’t have much clothing in that color. He’d remember that for later.

“I can really have all these?” Keith asked once he was done, and both he and Lance had transferred the clothes to Keith’s room. Lance looked over at him, pausing in putting the clothes away in the dresser. Keith wasn’t looking at him, and was picking at the sleeves of the hoodie Lance had given him when he arrived. Lance could tell he was anxious.

“Yup. I’m not using them anyway, and you need them more than me,” Lance said as he closed the dresser drawer. He gave Keith a smile to reassure him, and Keith returned a small one.

“Thanks Lance,”

XXXX

Thursday was seeming to pass by pretty quickly after they were finished cleaning. Knowing his friends would be alright without him for a little bit, Lance decided to close himself in his office for a little bit and see how everything was doing in the outside world since he’d been at home for a bit, not that he really minded. The next hour or so went by as he checked all of his social medias, checking up on all of his friends and family.

Lance was in the middle of reading a new science article published by the Garrison when someone knocked on the door. He turned his chair to find Hunk coming in, and watched his best friend sit down on the couch.

“Hey, Hunkabun, what’s up?” Hunk smiled at the nickname, before he gestured towards the living room.

“Just felt a little out of place. You know how Pidge is when she gets to infodump about her favorite things,” Lance nodded, leaning out of his chair a little to look into the living room. Pidge usually picks one person to talk to and then tunes out everything else as she talks. He couldn’t really see Pidge, save for a couple of hair curls and the occasional hand gesture, but he could see Keith, who was intently listening to Pidge and nodding along. Lance smiled at them, before he turned back to Hunk.

“What’s her topic this time?” The last time, she chose Lance and he got to hear about Pidge’s new robotics project. He smiled as he remembered how much she lit up and talked animatedly. He loved seeing his friends happy, doing what they loved.

“Aliens,” Hunk and Lance smiled to each other, chuckling lightly, and knew it was Pidge’s all-time favorite thing to talk about.

Hunk and Lance decided to pass the time of the rest of the afternoon talking as well. Lance loved that he could talk to Hunk about anything and nothing. They didn’t realize how long they had talked for or even what time it was until Pidge made her presence known and called them from the couch. They looked to find both Pidge and Keith looking at them over the top of the couch.

“Yes, Pidge?” Lance asked. Pidge waved her phone at them.

“Let’s give Hunk a break and order some food,” He looked to Hunk, who just shrugged his shoulders. Hunk didn’t really mind either way.

XXXX

Pidge won rock-paper-scissors and got to choose dinner. She quickly ordered from her phone, asking what they all wanted; Keith had let Lance chose for him. Then, both duos went their separate ways again until the food arrived. Pidged handed money to Hunk, who went to answer the door, and didn’t even pause in her conversation about the UFO light that appeared over LA the year before. Lance leaned over the back of the couch, listening to his friend talk and smiling when he noticed Keith was fully enraptured in listening as well. There was a pause in the conversation, as Pidge and Keith looked up at him.

“Keith, if you love the alien talk, you should really ask her about cryptids,” Pidge smiled at the mention of another of her favorite thing, and that smile only grew wider as Keith simply asked,

“What’s a cryptid?” Lance smiled as Pidge launched into an explanation of cryptids and the different types. And with that, Lance walked away with a smile and went to help Hunk set the table. The other two shortly joined them once the smell of food hit their noses as Hunk opened the takeaway containers. The trio watched as Keith, once again, poked at his food before taking a bite, and Lance finally let his curiosity get the better of him.

“Why do you poke your food?” Keith raised an eyebrow at him, chewing his food. He swallowed before he answered.

“I know you guys said you wouldn’t get food goo and everything, but I just want to make sure,” He went to eat more, as if he believed that answer would satisfy them, but they were still pretty confused.

“Do you mind explaining what you mean by food goo? I didn’t ask before, but now I just want to know. I’m getting that that is what they served at the facility you were held at, but I just don’t know what it is,” Lance continued his question, making Keith frown. But Keith could understand the confusion, he just didn’t know how to fully explain. He set his fork down, before he answered.

“I really don’t know what it was, the higher-ups told us it was everything we needed to eat to stay healthy. It tasted like nothing, but it was like neon green in color for some reason. And if you poked at it, it moved like Jell-O. I hate it, but that is all they would give us. I think if we were promoted to full-time and stay with the militia, we got real food, but it was only a rumor,” He looked back up at the trio to see that they were a little grossed out, but they at least understood the little quirk he always did before eating. After they were done processing the new information, they moved away from the topic and talked about different things, making sure to include Keith in the conversation. Keith was just grateful to get away from talking more about the facility.

XXXX

After dinner, the group took turns in the bathroom for showers, and Lance changed the bandages on Keith’s injured hand and arm, and then once done, they took their seats in the living room again and watched more movies. Pidge took control of the movie selection and queued up a bunch of movies about aliens for Keith. 

It was after the third movie when Lance realized the rain had finally stopped. It made him smile; while he loved the rain, being stuck indoors for a long period of time made him restless. Lance couldn’t wait to spend more time in his garden in the morning.

It took two more movies for everyone to call it quits and go to sleep, now all venturing to their own rooms.

XXXX

Friday morning came quickly to Lance and he was awoken to soft footsteps approaching his bed once more. He didn’t even move from his nest of blankets and pillows, only sent out a warning.

“Pidge, I swear to all the good in the world, if you launch yourself at me again, I’m making you unweed my entire garden without gloves,” The answer Lance received was only a laugh, but it wasn’t Pidge’s. Keith’s voice made Lance pull his head out of his cocoon.

“Nope, not Pidge. She’s next on the wake-up list. Hunk told me to wake you for breakfast,” Keith smiled down at Lance, and Lance noticed that he was wearing some of Lance’s old clothes, an old black Star Trek t-shirt, a pair of gray shorts, and mismatched socks (one red, one black). He also realized Keith’s hair was pulled into a low ponytail. Lance sat up more, and once Keith was certain Lance was going to be up soon, he waved at him and made his way out of the room to go wake up Pidge. Once the door closed behind Keith, Lance hopped out of bed and went to his closet. He glanced out the window and smiled when he saw the sunlight pouring onto his garden. He knew how his day was going to go.

Lance pulled out a pair of dark blue shorts, and a blue and white striped shirt and quickly got dressed. He pulled on a pair of blue socks before he headed out of his room. As he walked down the hall and made it to the top of the steps, he saw Pidge coming out of her room, dressed in a dark green sundress. She waved at Lance sleepily, before covering her mouth to yawn. Lance walked down the steps first, before Pidge followed him. Both Keith and Hunk were bringing out dishes of food and placing them on the table just as they both reached the first floor. Lance was happy to see that Hunk had made omelets. 

Lance ate his food as quick as he could, so he could head outside. He thanked Hunk once he was done and made for the mudroom for his shoes. He poked his head out of the mudroom to look at Pidge.

“Hey Pidge, the blackberries are ready to be picked. Do you want to pick them?” He smiled when the younger girl nodded her head, and he was about to disappear back into the room when Keith’s voice called out to him.

“Do you need any help?” Lance smiled and waved for Keith to join him. He heard Keith take plates into the kitchen, before making his way also into the mudroom. Lance leaned against the back door, waiting for Keith to put on the shoes Lance had given him.

“Only one rule this time, buddy. No falling asleep under the sunflowers again, pretty sure you don’t want mud all over you,” Lance giggled as Keith turned slightly red, but still nodded. Lance grabbed his sun hat, placing it on his head and opened the door. Lance smiled brightly when the floral scent hit his nose, and warm air wrapped around him. He grabbed Keith’s hand and pulled him along.

“Come on! Let’s get to work,”

XXXX

Lance did actually have Keith do the hard work of pulling weeds from the garden, but he at least gave him gloves so he wouldn’t tear his hands. Pidge came out a good ten minutes after Lance and Keith got to work, and brought a basket from the mudroom. Lance simply pointed her towards the vegetable garden, before returning back to checking to see if there was any damage from the storm. When he made his way to the front, he noticed Hunk took up a seat on the porch and was relaxing in the sun with a book. He noticed Lance staring at him and waved, smiling when Lance returned the wave.

Keith didn’t complain about being put to work, pulling weeds. He actually didn’t mind it, there wasn’t much to do, and he didn’t have to think while he was working. His only complaints was that the heat was starting to get to him slightly and his shoulder wound tinged in pain every once in a while. Time to slip by him and he found himself being pulled from the garden for lunchtime. It was Pidge that had gotten his attention and the girl decided to tell Keith more about cryptids as they made their way back to the house. Keith found himself more intrigued by the topic the more the girl talked about it and Pidge seemed happy to have someone to listen to her talk.

Once they entered the house, they were hit by a waft of cool air, and it made Keith realize how overheated he might have been. Pidge and Keith took their shoes off in the mudroom and made their way into the living room. Lance and Hunk were bringing a couple plates of sandwiches out of the kitchen just as they were coming in. The four sat at the table and talked about what they planned for the rest of the day and what they should do for the next day.

Lance would need some more groceries to accommodate a few more people since it was essentially a small party. He and Hunk discussed some meal ideas, and had come to the conclusion of handmade burgers and kebabs and side dishes. Lance would take care of the burgers and man the grill, while Hunk will assemble the kebabs and fix the sides. Pidge was apparently going to take over Lance’s office to work on some things, while Keith, well, Keith didn’t really know what he was going to do, but he would find something to do. Lance had a bunch of books, Keith might go through them and find something.

Lunch ended with Pidge getting a phone call, and she went to the office, closing the door before she answered. Lance and Hunk was started to get a little suspicious about this, usually Pidge didn’t mind answering calls around them. Lance had an idea that it was either her brother or Matt’s friend she asked for permission to come to Lance’s. He shrugged, he’d find out eventually. He went upstairs to retrieve his wallet and car keys so he and Hunk could get the groceries. Lance found Keith looking anxiously around the living room, once he came downstairs.

“What’s up, Keith?” Keith jumped slightly at his name, and turned towards Lance. He had apparently put the hoodie Lance gave him back on while Lance was upstairs. He messed with the hoodie sleeves, before he voiced his thoughts.

“I don’t know what to do with myself,” Lance raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean?”

“You and Hunk are going to the market and Pidge is on her laptop. I don’t know what to do,” Lance hummed in acknowledgement. He glanced around his living room looking for something to keep Keith entertained. His eyes rested on a blue rectangular device on his bookshelf, he knew what Keith could do.

“Do you remember a game called _Pokemon_?” Lance smiled when Keith’s eyes shined in excitement.

Lance had just gotten the recent _Pokemon_ game and hadn’t had the chance to start it yet. He found that he did not mind Keith getting to try it first. Hunk waited patiently as Lance explained the new game experiences to Keith. Apparently Keith had a vague idea of the game from his childhood, and from the snippets Keith could recall, Lance could guess that the last Pokemon game Keith had played was Silver. Lance knew the game would help Keith start out so he left him to it.

XXXX

Hunk and Lance came back an hour, almost two, later to find Pidge leaning over the back of the couch, explaining something to Keith. She was poking at the DS in Keith’s hand, so Lance assumed it was something about the game. Keith smiled up at her, thanking her, before directing the smile towards Hunk and Lance.

“Welcome home,” Lance waved his hand, despite the fact it held grocery bags. Hunk had ecstatically replied with the usual “We’re home!”. Lance smiled and followed his friend to the kitchen to put away everything. While at the store, Lance had managed to convince Hunk to let him cook dinner for the night, so once everything was away, Lance shooed Hunk out of the kitchen and got to work, since the meal took several hours to make.

Lance did not realize he was being watched until he turned to chop the onions and peppers. He was very happy to not be holding the knife when he jumped in fright at the sight of Keith sitting at the breakfast bar that was looking in on the kitchen. At Lance’s squeak of shock, Keith looked up from the gaming device in his hand. He just raised an eyebrow at Lance.

“What are you doing?” Lance asked. Keith pointed behind him, making Lance look in the direction of the couch. He saw Hunk and Pidge playing a video game, some sort of FPS game, Lance couldn’t really tell from how far away he was. He looked back at Keith, only to find the man playing the DS again. Lance shrugged his shoulders and continued working on dinner.

As he was working, Lance noticed that Keith would watch him every now and then. It almost made him self-conscious of what he was doing, but he tried to not let the staring get him. He knew it was just Keith being curious. Hunk had told Lance, while he was driving, that Keith had watched him make breakfast earlier that day as well. While he was sautéing the onions and peppers, Keith’s voice made Lance look over at him.

“Hey Lance?”

“What’s up?”

“Do you think…” Keith paused, looking very unsure of himself and slightly insecure. Lance turned and fully faced Keith, urging him to continue his question. Keith bit his lip, before he went on.

“When Coran says I’m good, do you think you could help me find my brother?” Lance grinned at Keith, even the other man was not looking at him.

“Of course, dude! We can get Pidge to start looking for him,” Keith looked up with slight surprise, and a light smile appeared on his face. He closed the DS and left it on the breakfast bar, before he stood.

“Thanks. Do you mind if I go rest in the spare room?” Lance waved him off with the kitchen spoon before turning back to his stove.

“It’s your room, dude. Go take a nap,” Lance didn’t see Keith’s expression of shock when he said it was Keith’s room. Keith did not know why it brought tears to his eyes, and caused his chest to tighten slightly, so he made his way to the hallway and to his room as quietly as he could. The door closed behind him with a soft click, and he went and laid face-down on the bed. He was asleep within moments of closing his eyes.

XXXX

_He was in the training room, it was always alit in a harsh purple glow. He held a training sword in his hand, but his opponent held an actual one. It wasn’t going to be a fair fight. As the opponent came rushing towards him, their image seemed to shift to different people: his father, Sendak the high commander, Zarkon the Galra leader, Haggar the main scientist, his brother. He couldn’t bring himself to fight any of them, only to attempt protecting himself. Soon, his sword was out of his hand, and his opponent was landing cut after cut onto him. He needed this stop. He thought this was over. Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop._

XXXX

“Make it stop!!!” Keith woke himself up yelling. He threw himself off the bed, entering into fight-or-flight mode. The dream had disoriented him enough that he could not remember where he was. The room seemed so familiar and safe, but his brain was in hyper-drive from the dream, unable to discern dream from reality. The door opened and he got into a fighting stance.

“Hey Keith? You alright, buddy? You were yelling,” The tanned man before him was so familiar, he felt safe, but Keith…Keith was scared. 

“Keith?” The man had taken a few steps forward, a concerned look on his face. Keith dropped his stance, and held his head. It was starting to pound, and he felt dizzy. Nothing was making sense. He felt like he couldn’t breathe. He fell to his knees, as he tried to pull breaths in as fast as he could. He heard the other man curse, and then kneeled down in front of him.

“Keith, shit man. You need to slow your breathing. Can I have your hand?” Keith couldn’t slow, he just needed to breathe, but he allowed the other to take his hand. It was placed against the other’s chest, it felt the man’s heartbeat and his breathing.

“Breathe with me, ok? I don’t know what brought this on, but it’s just temporary, ok? It will fade. It may be terrifying to you right now, but it will fade and it isn’t going to hurt you anymore. You’ve got me here,” The pain in his head started to lessen as he started to breathe in sync with the man. And after a couple of minutes, the fog of his memory was starting to fade. He gripped the shirt under his hand.

“Lance,”

“Yeah, it’s me. You doing alright?” Keith shook his head, everything still felt like it was too much. He leaned his head forward and rested it against Lance’s shoulder. The panic in his chest was loosening, and it was leaving him even more exhausted. It wasn’t until the shirt under his face grew wet that he realized that he was crying. He wanted to apologize, but couldn’t bring himself to pull away. In fact, he pushed his face deeper into the shirt, and allowed himself to weep openly. Lance seemed to freeze under him, but after a moment, Keith could feel a hand running up and down his back in effort to comfort him more.

Keith didn’t know how much time had passed once he willed himself to calm down. He pulled himself away from Lance, and rubbed at his eyes. He looked to Lance to see that he held a mix of worry and relief in his eyes.

“You better now?” Keith couldn’t bring himself to talk just yet, and simply nodded. Lance rose to stand, and stretched his limbs, before he held out a hand to Keith to help him stand as well. Keith was grateful for the help once he realized how wobbly his legs were. Lance helped Keith walk over to the window perch and sit down, before Lance sat down next to him.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Keith shook his head, the dream that caused it had vanished quickly from his head as soon as he woke. He didn’t know what to even talk about. In the corner of his eye, he watched Lance pull his legs to his chest and hug them there. He hummed at Keith’s answer. The silence around them was starting to get uncomfortable, and Lance began to talk to fill it. He talked about anything that came to his mind.

After a little bit of Lance talking and Keith just listening, Hunk poked his head into the room. Lance stopped his talk about the recent planet discoveries to acknowledge him.

“Hey bud, what’s up?” Hunk looked over at Keith to make sure he was alright, before he answered.

“Your timer is going off. Do you want me to finish everything up?” Lance nodded.

“It’s just the rice timer, do you mind making that?” Hunk nodded at that, before he left the room. Lance didn’t waste any time in going back to talk about a new topic.

XXXX

It wasn’t much longer after Hunk left that they were called for dinner. Keith and Lance left his room, and a delicious smell reached Keith’s nose, and his stomach began to grumble. Lance laughed at his flushed embarrassed face as they walked back towards the living room. Pidge was placing plates down on the table, just as Hunk brought in the dinner. Hunk and Pidge sat at their usual side, but Lance decided to change it up and sat next to Keith. It was a small comforting gesture and it made Keith feel calmer. Keith still couldn’t bring himself to talk but he still listened to the trio. Lance began to tell him about what the dinner was; apparently it was his grandmother’s ropa vieja recipe. It was really good in Keith’s opinion. And according to Lance, it was really good as leftovers as well, so there was enough for the next day as well for the group of people coming over.

Keith zoned out while Hunk and Lance tried to get information out of Pidge about her brother’s friend. Neither noticed the glance she sent Keith before she told them that he used to work for the Garrison and is now Matt’s roommate. They tried to get more information from her, but she just ignored them and told them they could meet him tomorrow and bug him with all their questions.

Keith managed to finish one plate of food but couldn’t bring himself to eat anymore. He quietly thanked Lance for the food, before he made his way back to his room. He grabbed the red blanket that he had brought from the living room the other night, wrapped it around himself, and got himself comfortable on the window perch once more. He rested his head against the window pane, and just closed his eyes.

XXXX

He didn’t mean to fall asleep again, but when he awoke, his entire body ached from the position he fell asleep in. Keith uncurled himself and stretched his aching limbs, before he stood from the perch. The clock that was on the bedside table told him that it was 6 in the morning, and he found himself surprised that he slept for almost 12 hours.

He left his room, still keeping the blanket around his shoulders. He exited the hallway just at the same time as Lance walked down the stairs. The two looked at each other; Lance was making sure Keith was better from the night before while Keith was trying to figure out why Lance was up this early and dressed in regular clothes. 

“Morning!” Lance said, once he was sure Keith was alright. Keith only waved sleepily at him before he went to the kitchen for something to drink. Lance followed closely behind him to grab a bottle of water from the fridge.

“I’m going to be out in the garden if you need me,” Lance said as he made his way towards the mud room for his shoes and hat. He heard Keith mutter something quiet about have fun or something of that sort, before Keith made his way to the couch. He finished his drink and then found himself falling asleep again.

XXXX

Lance came back inside almost two hours later, holding a basket of fresh strawberries from his garden. Hunk had asked him for some the day before, so he could work his kitchen magic on a dessert for the group. Lance found Hunk in the kitchen, getting breakfast started. Hunk smiled at the basket of berries, thanking Lance, before he turned back to the stove. Lance grabbed another bottle of water, and made his way over to the living room area. Pidge was sitting on the couch next to a snoozing Keith. She was watching her alien TV show once more, and she waved at Lance when he sat on the reclining chair. She motioned her head towards the sleeping Keith.

“You think he’s ok?” Lance glanced over the sleeping man. Keith looked really relaxed where he was, and there was no indication that he was having any nightmares, which is what Lance believed had started Keith’s panic attack the night before.

“Maybe. I’m not quite sure yet. We’ll tell Coran what happened and maybe he can help us some more,” Pidge nodded in agreement, before she turned her attention back to the show. Lance managed to pay attention to the show some, but every couple minutes, he’d glance over at Keith. Hunk gained their attention not long after for breakfast; Lance shooed Pidge to the table, and went to wake Keith up. He patted Keith’s shoulder and watched as the other tensed slightly before he opened his eyes. Keith blinked a couple times before he looked up at Lance.

“Morning again. Come on, breakfast is done,” Keith nodded and got out of his blanket cocoon. He rubbed his eyes as he sleepily stumbled after Lance to the table. Hunk grinned at Keith and handed him a plate of pancakes once he settled at the table.

“Thanks Hunk,” Keith had said before he started to eat.

“No problem, bud. How’d you sleep?”

“Better, but I want to sleep more,” Hunk shook his head at that. He knew what Keith was feeling. He himself was always tired after a panic attack, but Hunk, also, knew that Keith shouldn’t sleep too much more. He looked at Pidge and then at Lance, trying to convey his thoughts to them, and they both seemed to understand.

Breakfast finished pretty fast, and Pidge got a still sleepy Keith to follow her back to the couch. She let him get wrapped back up in his blanket, but wouldn’t let him go back to sleep. She began her television show again, and began to talk about some of the science in the show. Pidge had paused in her talk to make sure Keith was still awake, only to find him smiling at her, waiting for her to continue. This caused her to grin widely at him, before continuing her talk about one of the professors that appears on the show. When she was started to wind down on talking, and wanted to focus more on the show an hour later, Lance appeared from over top the couch and handed Keith the DS. Keith had almost forgot about the video game he had played the day before; he went to thank Lance, only to find the other man disappearing back into the kitchen.

After a few hours, Lance’s voice called out from the kitchen to Pidge.

“Hey Pidgeon, when’s your brother and his friend arriving?” Pidge unlocked her phone to reread the message, before she responded to him.

“They say around 2,” It was only noon, and both Hunk and Lance were finishing up their preparations for the small party. Coran was apparently going to be there soon, despite the fact Lance knew for a fact that the bookstore didn’t close until 4 on Saturdays. But, Lance let it slide, he knew that Coran was probably still a little worried over Keith. He reminded himself to tell Coran what they learned about Keith’s past, he might be able to help even more.

At 1 or so in the afternoon, a knock at the door took Pidge’s attention away from the television. She turned her head and was greeted with the sight of Coran waving at them from outside. She got up from her seat to open the door. Behind her, Keith was sitting up some to look at Coran. The red-haired man waved at Keith, moving the shoulder strap of his medical bag. Lance had walked out of the kitchen, holding a plate of uncooked burgers. He paused in his walk to go outside to the grill to greet his boss.

“Hello my boy. I’ll work on Keith while you get those onto the grill,” Coran smiled at Lance and waved him off. Lance disappeared in the direction of the mud room, and Coran motioned for Keith to follow him to his room. Even though Keith did not want to leave his comfy spot with his blanket, he got up from the couch and followed the man anyway. He really wanted to know if it was time for the stitches to come out.

“I hear you’re talking more. That’s good, I’m glad you’re putting your trust in Lance. He’s a wonderful person, think of him as my son most of the time myself,” Coran rambled as Keith got onto his window perch and Coran rummaged through his bag. Keith knew he could trust Coran fully now, so he took off his night shirt. Coran raised an eyebrow at the bandage wrapped around Keith’s hand, but didn’t question it. He got into unwrapped all the bandages on Keith’s body.

“Now, do you want me to fill the silence as I work, or do you want to talk?” And with Keith knew what Coran wanted, and so he opened his mouth and told Coran his story.

XXXX

Lance finished up the burgers and walked back into the house just as someone knocked on the door. He waved Pidge off as he placed the plate down on the table and made to welcome his new guests himself. He was greeted with Matt talking animatedly to someone with his back turned to Lance. The person poked Matt and pointed at Lance, making the brunette turn.

“Hey Lance!” Matt gave him a hug which Lance returned. They pulled away and Lance’s attention was now brought to Matt’s friend. He was taller than Lance, and was of Asian descent. His face has a slight multitude of scars, the most prominent was one across his nose. For some reason, he had a shock of white hair as his bangs while the rest of his hair was black. Lance, also, noticed that he was missing his right arm, but decided not to ask about it or draw any attention to it, even if he was slightly curious. Besides him, Matt decided to introduce him.

“Lance, this is Shiro, my roommate. He used to work at the Garrison, but now he’s going to LCC for a teaching degree,” Shiro seemed a little flustered at the mention of his degree. Lance held out his right hand to shake Shiro’s left.

“It’s nice to meet you, Shiro. I’m Lance Fuentes, I also go LCC but for astrophysics,” Lance grinned when Shiro shook his hand. Lance got out of the way of the door and let the both of them walk into his home. Pidge ran towards them and hugged her brother, before she also hugged Shiro. Shiro ruffled the shorter girl’s hair, before he turned to Lance once more.

“Let me introduce myself fully. Shiro is only a nickname I've had since I was younger, it just stuck and I answer to it more than my real name. My name is Takashi Shirogane,” Lance nodded at the introduction, but soon his thoughts went to a shrieking halt at the name. Shirogane…That was Keith’s father…wait the information said he had a brother. Pidge said the brother was called Takashi. He glanced at Pidge, who was looking at him sheepishly.

“Surprise,” was her only reply. Pidge had known Keith’s brother this entire time. And before he could say anything to her, he could hear Coran and Keith’s voices coming down the hallway. Oh, this was going to be good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Brothers are reunited.
> 
> Come talk to me on tumblr: [chirithy](http://chirithy.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Also, I have a floor plan of Lance's home in my 'of starflowers and scars' tag on my tumblr!!


	11. heather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brothers reunited

Coran believed that Keith was healing up nicely, and turned his back to give the boy some privacy to change into regular clothes.

“Now, my boy, you still have a few more days until the stitches come out, so just bear with them for now,” Keith touched Coran’s shoulder, indicating that he was done getting dressed. Instead of his pajamas, he was dressed in a black plaid shirt, a white undershirt, and a pair of jeans. Coran smiled at him, leaving his duffle bag where it was, and making his way to the door. He could hear talking in the living room. Keith followed closely behind him.

“Now, as for the episodes you’ve been having, I’m afraid there is not much I can do. There is medicine that could help you prevent them, and even medicine to help calm you from the episodes, but we would need a doctor’s approval for them,” Coran turned his head and saw Keith frowning towards the ground. Coran wanted to ruffle his hair, but refrained the impulse. The voices in the living room were starting to quiet down, and it made Coran raise an eyebrow in curiosity. He was the first one to come out of the hallway, but Keith disappeared into the bathroom for a couple seconds.

He found Lance and Pidge standing in front of two other males, all looking in his direction. Hunk was looking in from the kitchen. Lance quietly asked where Keith was, and Coran pointed towards the bathroom, where the sink could be heard running. Coran walked a bit more into the room, and took a good look at the newcomers. He instantly recognized Matt, Samuel’s son, while the other man he knew was Shiro, one of Allura’s friends from school.

“Hello, Matt, Shiro. It’s good to see you both,” Shiro waved his hand at him, but his attention was still towards the hallway. Matt greeted him, but didn’t leave Shiro’s side. Behind Coran, the water shut off and the door opened. Keith’s voice rang out, before he poked his head out of the hallway.

“Hey Lance, is lunch almost done?” Coran watched Shiro freeze and his eyes widen at the sight of Keith. Lance went over towards Keith, responding,

“Almost there, bud. I need to fix up Hunk’s kebabs, and then you can eat. Um,” Lance glanced over towards Shiro, who hadn’t looked away from Keith yet. Keith followed Lance’s gaze and looked over at the new people. One looked like an older version of Pidge, while the other…the other man made a voice yell out at the back of his head. He looked familiar but he couldn’t place him anywhere. Lance cleared his throat and continued talking,

“Um, why don’t you come meet Pidge’s brother and their friend?” Keith nodded and followed Lance towards them. He could sense the man, who he slightly recognized, was staring at him, and he returned the gaze. Suddenly, there was a flash in his mind. The blurred face of his brother, a smile and a hand to his hair; it made him paused, and he blinked rapidly to clear his thoughts. He barely ever had flashes of his brother. His brow furrowed and he looked over the man, but Pidge’s brother stepped in front of him.

“Hello there. I’m Matt Holt, Pidge’s big brother. Who’re you?” Keith almost took a step back from Matt, but stopped himself. He hadn’t got that close to Keith, and just shocked him a little with his suddenness. Keith glanced at Lance, who was smiling at him, before he turned his attention back to Matt and introduced himself.

“My name is Keith. It’s nice to meet you. Pidge told me a bit about you, said your running commentary on the alien show was funnier than hers,” Matt frowned at his sister.

“Alien show? Which one?” Keith shrugged his shoulders, he never caught the title of it; he just liked the show.

“I don’t know, she just puts it on, and we watch it,” Pidge and Matt both laughed at that. Over Matt’s shoulder, the other man seemed amused by what Keith had said, but his staring was still making Keith nervous. He looked down at his hands and messed with the bandage on his hand. Lance nudged him to make him stop, and he looked back up. The man was now staring at the bandages on his hand and arm, worry written across his face. He was biting his lip, keeping himself from saying or asking anything. Matt had nudged the man’s shoulder, trying to get him to introduce himself as well.

“I’m Shiro, it’s nice to meet you,” Shiro gave him a wobbly smile, but as soon as he spoke, Keith froze. 

_He and his brother were sitting at the kitchen table, Keith was watching his brother fill out some sort of forms with his full name._

_“Why do I call you Shiro when your real name is Takashi?” His brother only snorted at him and looked at him from under his bangs, not fully looking up from his paperwork._

_“Because my adorable little brother couldn’t pronounce Takashi when he started speaking,” Keith flushed, he didn’t know this. Shiro laughed at him a little more._

_“You used to just call me ‘Kashi’, but then just Shiro when I tried to get you to say my whole name and Shiro just stuck,” Keith looked away embarrassed, but peeked over at his brother when he laughed at him again and leaned over to ruffle his hair._

_“Do you want me to call you Takashi?” His brother only shook his head._

_“You can call me whatever you want, Kit Kat. But, between you and me, I respond more to Shiro than anything, even have my friends at school calling me Shiro,” Shiro only smiled at him before he got back to his paperwork. Keith had stood and hugged his brother, before he set off for his room._

_“Love you, Shiro,”_

_“Love you too, Kit Kat,”_

Keith came back to reality as soon as tears started to pour from his eyes. Everyone around him looked at him worried, but Lance and Shiro were the worst ones. Keith rubbed at his eyes, and looked over Shiro once more. He knew now why he recognized him.

“Takashi?” Everyone froze, and Shiro took a step towards Keith, who was still looking for some confirmation. Shiro gave him a smile, and ruffled his hair.

“Hey Kit Kat,” That was all it took to have Keith pull his older brother into a hug and sob into his shoulder.

XXXX

Allura was running a bit late to getting to Lance’s house, but once she had parked her car and was making her way towards the house, she heard her name being called from the side. She looked and saw Pidge waving her over. She went towards her friend, and found almost all of her friends and her uncle outside circled around Lance’s grill. 

“Is there a reason we’re all out here?” Lance pointed at Pidge, who answered.

“We’re just giving Shiro and Keith some time together,” Allura raised an eyebrow; Shiro was one of her closest friends, but she didn’t understand how Keith would know him and why they needed time together.

“What do you mean?” Pidge pulled out her phone, and put a picture up on display, before handing her phone over. Allura looked at the image, and saw a younger version of Shiro, kneeling next to a little boy. They both held up the victory sign at the camera, but the boy was also holding up some sort of creature. Allura had glimpses of the photo before whenever she was in Shiro’s room. She had asked him about it once before, but the look on his face made her take back the question and never asked again. She looked up at Pidge for an explanation.

“You didn’t know Shiro when he first arrived her, he would never stop talking about his little brother. But, after a couple years of living here in Arus, he suddenly just stopped. He didn’t tell us much, I don’t think, Matt probably knows more,” Pidge looked over at her brother. She was only 8 when it happened, so her memory of the time was spotty at best. Matt looked up from his phone, and nodded.

“Shiro told me his little brother had gone missing, but he couldn’t go help the search or he’d lose his spot at the Garrison. His father wasn’t giving him much information and it took me and my dad stopping him from dropping everything to go find his brother. The day the search got called off,” Matt had paused, trying to shake his head of the memories. It had been horrible, Shiro had shut down entirely. Matt never want to see that devastation on Shiro’s face ever again. The group understood that Matt didn’t want to talk about that day, and let it be. But, he continued to talk anyhow.

“It took him a while to get back to being Shiro fully again. Me and Dad had him move into the Holt house to give him support. Pidge helped some, apparently she reminded him of his brother,” Pidge didn’t know that, but smiled at her brother who smiled back. Allura did never learn about this, she had only met Shiro a little bit after his accident 3 years back. She looked at the photo once more; there was one part she still didn’t understand.

“What does Keith have to do with this?” She handed Pidge her phone back. Pidge pointed at the little boy.

“Allura, Keith is Shiro’s little brother,”

XXXX

Neither Shiro nor Keith realized the room cleared of people, as Keith sobbed into his brother’s shoulder and Shiro held onto his little brother for the first time in ten years. They slunk down into a kneeling position since Keith’s legs began to give out on him. Keith pushed back somewhat to fully looked at his brother, Shiro looked down at him and smiled, pushing some of Keith’s hair out of his face. He almost couldn’t believe how much his little brother has grown. There was a rush of depression going through; he didn’t get to see his little brother grow into the man currently kneeling in front of him. Keith’s voice broke Shiro from his thoughts.

“What happened to you, Shiro?”

“What happened to you, Keith?” Keith bit his lip and stood from the floor. He helped Shiro up and took him over to the couch, and they both sat down. Shiro spoke first.

“I have a feeling that your story is going to be a lot longer than mine. So I’ll tell you first,” Keith curled up on his side of the couch, fully facing his brother. His eyes traced over the scars on Shiro’s face, and slightly lingered on Shiro’s missing arm.

“A couple years after you disappeared, I got in a car accident. The other driver was lucky, only sustained a concussion. And the person driving me was alright too, another concussion and seatbelt bruises. But I was on the side that got hit worse; my arm got pinned and couldn’t be saved. The glass in my window sliced up my face, leaving all of these scars,” Shiro bought up a hand and traced his hand against the most prominent one that went across his nose. He was really glad that Matt had been okay after the crash, but he knew his best friend blamed himself for Shiro’s injuries. He glanced back over at Keith, and noticed him looking up at his hair.

“The hair?”

“Well, I think you’ve met Allura and saw her hair. She wanted a test subject before she dyed her hair white, and I just didn’t care at that point,” Shiro just shrugged his shoulders, it had been a good bonding experience between him and Allura. He smiled at his brother, and watched Keith toy with the bandages over his wrist. Shiro stretched out his hand and placed it over Keith’s hand that was messing up the bandages. It hurt him to watch his little brother slightly flinch at the touch.

“Keith, if you don’t want to tell me what happened, I won’t be mad. I want you to take your time if you need it. I’m just really happy that you’re alive and well. And I hope I can make up for all those years we lost,” Shiro said, as he pulled Keith’s hand away from his arm. He rubbed his thumb across the knuckles of the bandages adorning Keith’s hand he held. Yes, he absolutely wanted to know what happened to Keith, but he could tell Keith was worried about what he was going to say.

“Have…Have you talked to Dad since I disappeared?” Keith wasn’t looking at Shiro when he asked. He just stared at the bandages on his arm.

“Somewhat. He told me what happened, that you disappeared, he gave me updates on the search sometimes. But, there was a time I couldn’t bring myself to talk to him. The last time I talked to him was when the search was called off and your case went cold,” Shiro was being completely honest. When he heard about Keith’s disappearance, he, at first, blamed himself for leaving Keith by himself when he knew their father was distanced and didn't have his older brother to rely on, but as the search and the case went on for longer without any results, he just got angry; angry at their father, why didn’t their father pay more attention to Keith, why did he sound so disinterested when he updated Shiro. Shiro had found himself blaming their father for Keith’s disappearance, and still did to this day. Keith gripped Shiro’s hand tightly.

“Shiro…Dad is the reason I disappeared,” Keith looked up at his big brother with tears in his eyes and told him his story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why Shiro calls Keith Kit-Kat: He once gave Keith a Kit Kat bar and instead of breaking it apart, Keith just bit into it like a heathen, and Shiro's called him Kit-Kat ever since.
> 
> So hey, sorry for the late update. Depression and BPD owns my fucking ass as does writer's block. I wish I could have a better word count for this chapter, but I didn't like anything else that I wrote for this chapter. I'm going to try to have more updates soon.
> 
> Next chapter: ????
> 
> Validate me on tumblr: [chirithy](http://chirithy.tumblr.com/)


	12. Not an update

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Help me with the next chapter please?????

Hi everyone, it's chirithy the writer. I apologize for this not being a new chapter of OSAS, but you know, I could really use your help for the next chapter.

I'm stuck on three scenarios for how Shiro will react to Keith's story and I guess I kind of want y'all to pick your fave. So here's the three choices:

A. Shiro gets really mad, kind of starts yelling and freaking Keith out. He wants to call up their father and demands answers but Keith doesn't want anything to do with Ryou (their father). The group intervenes, Matt calms Shiro down while Lance calms Keith.

B. Shiro gets really quiet after hearing Keith's story and asks him to get Matt. Once Matt reaches Shiro, they go onto the front porch and Shiro has a small breakdown and tells Matt about Keith. And Matt comforts him.

C. Shiro just hugs Keith and tells him that everything is going to be alright. Shiro promises to always be there for Keith and will try to make up the lost ten years. And that he will get Keith any help Keith may need. But once he has a minute away from Keith and the party, Shiro asks Pidge to completely wreck Ryou's life and expose him.

Anyway, that's all I have right now. Once I get a good idea on Shiro's reaction, I'll replace the author's note with the real chapter 12. I hope to have it up by next week since I know how the rest of the chapter is going.

I really appreciate the help!!!!!! Thank you all for reading!!!! Love y'all!!!!!!!

Edit: As of August 25th, the next outcome has been decided and the real chapter 12 is being worked on! Thank you so much to everyone who gave me an answer, and I hope you all enjoy my next chapter!!! I love y'all!!! See you soon!!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm on my phone so I can't do HTML at the moment but you can message me on tumblr: chirithy


	13. petunia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro reacts, Keith reacts to Shiro's reaction and Matt and Lance help

After Keith was done talking, Shiro went quiet and he had an expression on his face that Keith had never seen on his brother when he was younger. Shiro was angry, and there was a small voice in Keith’s mind that told Keith that Shiro was angry with him. He started to curl into himself to prepare himself if Shiro started yelling. What made Keith pause in his action was when Shiro took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled. He gave his little brother a smile and patted his knee.

“Can you do me a favor?” Shiro said, his voice barely steady. Keith nodded.

“Can you get Matt for me and have him meet me on the front porch?” Keith nodded again and the two stood at the same time. Shiro paused before he made his to the front door, and pulled Keith into another hug. He tried his best to not cry when Keith flinched at the sudden action. He ruffled Keith’s hair as Shiro let him go.

“I love you Kit-Kat,”

“Love you, Takashi,”

XXXX

The group looked over at the mudroom door as it opened to the backyard. Keith poked his head out, looking a little sheepish. He came outside fully and walked the couple feet to Matt. He rubbed at his hand bandages when he had Matt’s attention on him.

“Takashi asked if you could meet him on the front porch,” Keith wasn’t really looking at Matt, just at the planter box on the ground next to him. Matt didn’t question it, just thanked Keith before he made his way towards the front of the house. Lance left the food on the grill to Hunk’s care, and made his way over to Keith.

“How’d he take everything?” Keith glanced at him, biting his lip, before he responded,

“I think he’s angry,” Lance had no doubt about that. What Ryou Shirogane had done to his youngest son was really shitty, even Lance was angry with the man and he didn’t even know him. Keith looked still shielded off from everything, like something was holding him back from talking more. To Lance, it was almost as if Keith was scared that Shiro was mad at him.

“Keith, you know Shiro isn’t mad at you, right?” Keith flinched at that and looked up at Lance. He had gotten it in one.

“But…” Keith started to talk, but Lance cut him off.

“Nope. He is not angry at you. You were not in control of what happened to you. What your brother is probably angry about is that he couldn’t protect you. He’s angry that your dad had put you through this,” Lance could see that Keith was starting to tear up, and he felt a little awkward. He didn’t know what to say next. So he nudged his shoulder against Keith’s and smiled at him.

“Come on. Let’s head inside. We’ll put a movie on while we finish the food. Maybe Hunk will give us some dessert early,” Lance looked over his shoulder at Hunk, who rolled his eyes at that, but he was smiling before he nodded. Lance froze when he felt a slight weight on his shoulder. He turned his head to find Keith leaning his head there. Keith was rubbing his eyes and had a small smile on his face.

“Thanks Lance,”

XXXX

Matt heard the group chat a little bit as he made his way to Shiro. He found his best friend sitting on the front steps of the porch; he was holding his head in his hand, and to Matt, Shiro looked devastated. He made his way over and sat next to Shiro. They sat in silence, Matt knew he couldn’t push Shiro to talk when he was upset, but he knew Shiro appreciated that someone was there for him.After a couple of minutes of waiting and cloud-watching, he heard Shiro sigh and saw him move from the corner of his eye. Shrio finally broke the silence with two words.

“He knew,” Matt looked at him in confusion and waited for him to continue. Shiro ran his hand through his hair, before covering his eyes.

“My father knew what happened to Keith this entire time. He’s been lying to me for ten years,” Matt was now only staring at him in shock.

“What? How?” Shiro locked his jaw, his mouth stuck in a frown.

“He sold him, Matt. My father sold my brother to off a gambling debt. And he had the audacity to sound upset when he told me Keith went missing,” Matt watched as Shiro stood and pulled his phone from his pocket. He started to dial a number, but Matt grabbed his arm and made Shiro look at him.

“What are you doing?” Matt was now looking at Shiro’s phone, at the name and number that was pulled up.

“I want answers. I want to know why he did this. I want him to know that I now know the truth,” Shiro made to press the call button, but Matt stopped him again.

“Shiro, wait. Just think about this. If you call Ryou and tell him that you found Keith and you now know what happened to him, what is stopping him from contacting whoever had Keith? He escaped, right? Ryou knows where we are, he could tell him where to find Keith, and they could try and take him away again. So please don’t…you might ended hurting your brother more,” Shiro was just looking at Matt now and Matt could tell he had gotten through to him, through his angry. Shiro held out his phone towards Matt, making Matt look at him confused.

“Can you just hold this for a bit? I still want to call him, to yell at him, to scream, just anything at him, but if I don’t have my phone, I can’t do anything,” Matt smiled at his best friend, taking the phone from his hand and putting it in his own pocket. Shiro sat back down on the steps next to him, and they sat in silence for a couple more minutes, letting Shiro calm down more. Matt looked over at him when he sighed once more.

“What am I going to do, Matt? Keith is clearly traumatized from what he went through, hell he’s still injured from his escape. I’ll have to ask Coran what happened to him, Keith wouldn’t tell me. But, I don’t have the means to take care of him. We don’t even have any room in the apartment,” Shiro jumped when Matt grabbed his shoulder, stopping him from rambling more about the worries he was having.

“Shiro, breathe,” Shiro did as he was told. Matt, then, grabbed his hand.

“We’ll figure this out, Shiro. You’re not alone in ths. Every person in the house behind us know what Keith has gone through and have been helping him and taking care of him from the start. Coran and Dad might be able to help with the trauma part, medication and possible therapy. While everyone else will help with anything else they can. Just trust us, okay?” Matt ran a thumb against Shiro’s knuckles to sooth him, and he felt Shiro lean against him. He smiled before continuing,

“You’ve been an honorary Holt for years now. 5 bucks says Dad is going to force adoption papers down Keith’s throat next time he sees him,” Matt felt and heard Shiro laugh at that.

“Pretty sure he’s past the adoption age by now,” Matt snorted at Shiro’s answer.

“That won’t stop him. Us Holts gotta stick together and I’m pretty sure Katie is attached to Keith now, so now he has no choice in the matter. He’s one of us now,” Shiro could only laugh again, still leaning against Matt. Matt leaned his head against Shiro’s and watched the wind blow through the garden.

“Thanks Matt, for helping me,”

“Anytime, Shiro,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for another short chapter, but I like how I ended with it. I'm going to try to get back to a weekly schedule with short updates instead of wearing myself out for long word counts. I can't thank y'all enough for helping me figure out Shiro's reaction, and even though this chapter only holds half of what I want Shiro to do, I hope you guys enjoy what comes next!
> 
> Anywho, there won't be a chapter next week since I'm going to be at Disney World, but I will be working on the chapter while I'm there.
> 
> Message me on tumblr: [chirithy](http://chirithy.tumblr.com/)


	14. fern

Keith’s attention was between looking out the front window at his brother and watching Hunk and Lance move around the kitchen. When a plate slid across the counter to him, he looked over and up to see Hunk smiling at him. He looked at the plate and found a rolled piece of green colored cake with a pink cream in the middle. Hunk handed him a fork and waits for the cake to pass the poke test, before he told Keith what it was.

“It’s a matcha Swiss cake with a strawberry mousse. I, also, have a vanilla version with the same mousse, but I thought you might like this version more,” Keith nodded at the explanation before he took a bite. There was a slight bitterness to the cake but it matched well with the sweet mousse. He looked up and smiled at Hunk.

“It’s good. Thank you, Hunk,” Hunk smiled brightly back at him, before he turned back to do something else, but Lance caught his attention first. Hunk and Lance chatted quietly to each other, before Hunk continued on and Lance was just drying his hands with a rag. Hunk had said something that made Lance laugh and he smacked Hunk lightly with the dish rag. Hunk just smiled at Lance before continuing on, and Lance made his way towards Keith. He watched as Keith finished off his slice of cake, before he spoke.

“How is it? I have my eye on a piece of the other version, but that one looks good too,” Lance leaned against the counter on his side. Keith looked up at him, and Lance chuckled that Keith had some of the mousse on his cheek.

“It’s really good. The bitter and the sweet go really well together,” Keith licked his lips of the crumbs after what he told Lance, but he still didn’t notice the mousse on his cheek. Lance nodded at him, before he brought his hand up and wiped away the mousse from Keith’s face with his thumb. It wasn’t until he realized that Keith had frozen that Lance noticed what he had done. He wiped his thumb with the rag, before he apologized to Keith.

“Sorry, thought you might just smear it across your face,” Keith flushed red and looked away, but still accepted the apology. Lance had to admit that Keith was really cute at that moment, but he also looked away in embarrassment as well. His attention was turned towards the front porch where he could Matt and Shiro were chatting; Shiro was apparently agreeing with something that Matt was saying because he was nodding. Matt had smiled and gave Shiro a thumbs-up, which made the man laugh. Lance glanced at Keith, who was also watching the exchange, and he spoke up.

“So what are you thinking?” Keith turned back to Lance, confusion on his face. Lance pointed towards the older brothers outside; he wanted to know how Keith felt about his brother currently.

“He’s different. Not that that’s bad, just he’s not the Takashi I remember,” Lance nodded, he could understand.

“It happens. It’s been what, 12 years since you’ve actually seen him in person, and 10 of those you were gone from his life, that can really change a person. But, you’re here now, yeah? You can get to know him all over again,” Keith smiled as Lance spoke; that was something he could really look forward to. The Takashi of the past was now a ghost that Keith could only remember fragments of, he wanted to know all about the Takashi of now; what he was doing with his life, did he graduate from his school, who Matt was to him, and so much more. Keith’s smile stayed on his face as he looked back out the front window, and found his older brother looking at him from outside, now standing on the porch. Shiro smiled back at him and waved, which Keith returned. The front door opened, and Matt poked his head into the house before calling out,

“Hey Lance, Katie, can you come out here a sec?” Keith tilted his head in confusion at the name ‘Katie’, but watched as Pidge got up from the couch and walked over to her brother before hip-checking Lance when he made his way over as well. Keith looked back into the kitchen and caught Hunk’s gaze, and he whispered

“Pidge’s name is Katie?” Hunk chuckled at him as he continued to stir something in the mixing bowl.

“I’ll have Pidge explain when she comes back inside,” Keith nodded understanding, and turned back to watch Lance and Pidge now outside talked to Matt and Shiro; every once in a while during the conversation, Lance and Shiro looked inside towards him, and it made Keith slightly self-conscious so he looked away and just watched Hunk work.

XXXX

Matt held the door open for Lance and Pidge and motioned for them to go towards Shiro as he closed the door back. Shiro smiled at them, and rubbed his neck, not really knowing what to say. Matt walked up next to him, placing a hand on Shiro’s arm.

“Shiro just wants to know a couple things. Lance, he wants to know about Keith,” Shiro nodded after Matt spoke, and Lance raised an eyebrow at them.

“Okay? What would you like to know?” He was still learning about Keith, but he felt he knew most of his mannerisms and some personality.

“How is he holding up? He didn’t tell me much about after you found him,” This was something Lance could answer.

“Well, he didn’t talk much for the first couple days, I think he was still processing everything. He doesn’t like to be touched much or be near us, but after getting comfortable with us more, he let us get closer, and I’ve been able to touch him some,” Lance didn’t realized how weird that sounded until the other three were looking at him with confusion and concern. He held his hands up in defense.

“Ok, whoa, yeah, that sounded wrong. He had a panic attack yesterday, and he let me hug him and rub his back to help calm him down. And oh yeah, when he injured his hand the other day, he let me clean the wound and take care of it,” The group accepted that answer, but Pidge was looking at Lance.

“Wait, how exactly did Keith injure his hand? I’ve been meaning to ask, I just kept forgetting,” Lance rubbed his neck, and looked inside towards Keith.

“The day after we found him, he…he started to let slip some stuff about those Galra people before he was ready. I’m not sure what exactly happened, but I think he had a flashback or something, and punched the bathroom mirror. I didn’t ask after it happened, because I didn’t want to make anything worse, so I just tried to get him to stay calm during the rest of the day. Just wrapped him up in a blanket, got us some chocolate milk and put some documentary series on for him,” Pidge’s eyes widened in surprise, her mouth opened slightly.

“You were using Operation Calm? You combine some of the different days?” Lance smiled at Pidge and nodded; he knew she would get it eventually. Matt and Shiro didn’t seem to comment on Operation Calm, but Shiro spoke up more.

“Are the panic attacks and flashbacks frequent?” Lance made the so-so motion with his hand.

“He doesn't really tell me, and we haven’t figure out many of the triggers. It does seem like he has them right after a nightmare, though he’s usually awake before all of us and just stays in his room until we’re moving around, so I really only know of one nightmare, which happened yesterday. It got so bad that he forgot where he was, and he was still having after-effects today. Mostly fatigue though,” Lance looked back at Shiro and Matt and found Shiro frowning. Matt was typing stuff into his phone, and he looked back up at Lance.

“Anything else?” He looked to Pidge, and she made the pointing motion. Lance let out an ‘oh’, and nodded, before he continued to speak.

“Though we haven’t a food that he doesn’t like, but he has some sort of poke test for food. Something about food goo,” He looked to Pidge to see if she could remember what Keith said better, and she continued for him,

“The food goo was what he was served at the compound he was held. Held everything needed to stay healthy, but it was, according to Keith’s words, neon green, tasted like nothing, looked like paste or goo and when you poke it, it moved like Jell-o,” Lance nodded as Pidge finished speaking.

“We haven’t had anything we made for him fail his test, and we always wait for him to do his thing before we eat,” Matt typed something done again, and then nudged Shiro. Shiro coughed awkwardly, before asking,

“Uh, is that it?” Lance shrugged.

“Pretty much. We’re still breaking down his walls. I know he likes the color red, and large hoodies that hide his hands. He likes to listen to Pidge infodump about her favorite topics for hours, and he also likes shows about aliens and history. And he likes to watch us cook. Oh, yeah, he really likes the window nook in his room, just likes to watch the world go, sitting there,” Shiro seemed to smile at this new information.

“Thank you for telling me, Lance,” Lance smiled at Shiro.

“It’s no biggie,” Shiro patted Lance’s shoulder, before he looked to Pidge.

“I have some more things I want to talk about with Lance, but I gotta know. Pidge, do you know anything about these Galra people?” Pidge frowned, and shook her head.

“It’s hard locating information on them online, though it doesn’t help Lance’s wi-fi is slow,” Lance pouted at that and stuck his tongue out at her, which she copied. Lance stopped when he heard Matt laughing at him and his little sister, and Pidge just continued on talking.

“I’m going back home tomorrow, and I’ll see if I can dig up anything. I just know that these people are really underground, but you know me, I can find anything when I put my mind to it,” Matt and Shiro looked at each other and smiled, agreeing with Pidge’s statement.

“Just keep us informed if you can,” Pidge saluted to Shiro’s request, and Shiro was now looking back at Lance again.

“So, Shiro, what else do you want to ask me?” A tap on the window next to them took away their attention, and Allura was standing there with Keith. She held a dry-erase board that simply said ‘Food’s done’, while Keith was chewing on one of the chicken kebabs beside her. Allura turned and said something to him that made Keith smile some, before he turned his gaze back to the group. The four told them ‘ok’ and gave them the indication that they needed just a few more minutes. Shiro waited until Keith walked away with Allura before turning back to Lance.

“Lance, do you mind if Keith stays with you?” Lance raised an eyebrow at him.

“What do you mean?” 

“It’s just…I’m living with Matt at the moment, and we don’t have much room in the apartment. And well, frankly, he’s more comfortable with you. It wasn’t until I said his childhood nickname that he remembered me. I can help with stuff, like groceries or medicine, but ultimately, it’s your home and it’s up to you,” Lance smiled softly; he could tell that Shiro, even though he just re-met his little brother 30 minutes ago, was worrying so much over Keith and his future. Lance was already planning on letting Keith stay until they actually found Shiro, but they were standing right in front of him. He looked at his house; he figured he had the room and he didn’t mind Keith’s company and would worry about his wellbeing if Keith left. He found himself nodding, and watched as Shiro sagged in relief.

“Of course, he can stay. He’s my friend and I wouldn’t have it any other way,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!!! Hope you liked the chapter! It's out a little later than I wanted it, but as soon as I got home from Disney, I had to dive head first into school. I'm going to try to have chapters out on Mondays since I have long weekends to work on them.
> 
> So in the next chapter or so, maybe in two chapters, there will be a time-skip and we'll be starting the second act of the story (which is the only act I don't have anything written for yet; I have stuff for the last act, which I can't wait for y'all to read) and the second act will finally start to divulge in more of Lance and Keith's relationship.
> 
> Well, gotta go. See you next time, love y'all!!!
> 
> talk to me on tumblr: [chirithy](http://chirithy.tumblr.com/)


	15. forsythia

The rest of the day passed by fast and was filled with good food, good friends and laughter. Keith found himself sitting at the breakfast bar next to Lance. Shiro was sitting at the table in the chair right next to Keith, while everyone was sitting in random spots around the table. Shiro was currently telling everyone some of the antics he and Matt had gotten into while they were studying at the Garrison; they had apparently switched the teachers’ coffee from regular to decaf and had gotten the entire day of classes cancelled.

“We thought Iverson was going to blow a fuse. His tolerance for people was already low, but with no caffeine in his system, he didn’t even want to leave his office. According to Dad, he growled anytime someone knocked on his door,” Matt was finishing up the story for Shiro, telling everyone about their least favorite professor. Next to Keith, Lance couldn’t breathe, he was laughing so hard, and everyone else was laughing almost as hard; Keith could only smile though, he didn’t quite understand. The laughter started to quiet down some, and Keith looked over to find Shiro looking over at him.

“You okay there, Kit-Kat?” Keith smiled at his childhood nickname and nodded. He was just happy to be included and that he was learning more about his brother and his friend. He looked over at Lance, when the man chuckled at the nickname. He raised an eyebrow at him in confusion.

“Shiro, you have to tell us. Why are you calling Keith Kit-Kat?” Shiro’s smile turned devilish, ready to make fun of his little brother. Keith couldn’t really remember the story, but knew it wasn’t good from his brother’s smile. Shiro patted Keith’s knee,

“Well, my darling little brother here loved candy when he was little, and when he was around 4, I gave him a candy bar of his own. Now, I used to break apart the candy bars for him, but this time, I decided he was on his own. I gave him a Kit-Kat bar, and instead of breaking it apart like I would for him, he just bit right into it without even thinking,” Keith flushed slightly; well now he remembered. Everyone was now laughing about Mini-Keith, Lance looked over and just smiled at Keith. The story reminded Keith of something and he spoke up.

“Hey Pidge, is your name really Katie?” Pidge glanced over at him in surprise. She smiled at him and nodded.

“When I came out, I choose the name Katie, but I’ve been called Pidge for as long as I can remember. So, my family calls me Katie while everyone else calls me Pidge,” Keith nodded at this, he made a mental note to ask what she meant when she said she came out, but he had a different question in the meantime.

“Why Pidge though?” Matt started to laugh while Pidge groaned; Keith tilted his head in confusion when Shiro, Hunk and Lance started to chuckle as well.

“I used to chase pigeons when I was little, and I was very good at catching them,” Matt decided to cut her off and continue the story.

“Then, one day while we were at the park, the pigeons remembered her and swarmed her, but they weren’t attacking her, they just landed on her and surrounded her. And instead of being terrified like a normal person would be, she looked at me, Mom and Dad and told us ‘that they’ve accepted her and she was now one of them’. We just started to call her Pigeon, but downgraded to Pidge as time went by,” Keith laughed, he could almost imagine a tinier Pidge smiling, surrounded by pigeons.

Another hour passed by with more stories, but it was Coran that decided it was time to head home. No one realized how much time had passed and they found it was now 8 at night. Lance and Hunk started to grab dirty plates and clean up some. Keith walked over near the hallway leading towards his room, Coran and Shiro standing beside him.

“Now, Keith, you are healing quite well. You have may be a couple more days of having stitches in your shoulder. I’ll have Lance bring you to my shop and I’ll get you situated,” Keith nodded at Coran and thanked him. 

“I’m also going to send Lance home with some medicine on Monday. They will help you with the panic attacks you’ve been having, but if you or Lance believe that the panic attacks and nightmares are getting worse, please do not hesitate to contact me,” Keith agreed to this as well, and Coran patted his uninjured shoulder with a satisfied smile. Shiro whispered something to Coran, which made him pause but he nodded at Shiro before he started to walk away.

“I need to talk to Lance. Have a good night, Keith,” Keith waved Coran off and watched him walk off, before he looked over at his big brother. Shiro smiled at him reassuringly,

“Hey bud, do you mind if we talked for a couple minutes before I leave with Matt?” Keith looked over at the couch area, where Matt was goofing off with Pidge, before he nodded. He motioned for his brother to follow him, and they made their way down the hallway to his room. He opened his door and made a beeline towards his window perch, Shiro sat in the chair next to the window that Lance usually occupied. Shiro waited a couple moments until he spoke up.

“Keith, I can’t really express how much I missed you,” Keith smiled, and agreed with his brother. He missed him as well, but words really couldn’t express what he felt now that he had his brother back. Shiro cleared his throat, looking away for a moment, but he looked back at his little brother nonetheless.

“Lance has been taking really good care of you, and I’m glad that you found a friend in him. And I would really like it if you stayed with him for the time being,” Keith looked at Shiro in confusion.

“What do you mean, Takashi?” 

“It’s just, I live with Matt in a small apartment next to the college, and I have a job with Matt and Pidge’s mom at the vet’s office,” Keith was starting to get the picture; Shiro doesn’t have the space and time to help him.

“Is Lance okay with this?” Shiro nodded.

“He said he wouldn’t have it any other way,” Keith bit his lip; he just got his brother back and now he wasn’t going to see him much. He looked down at his hands, digging his nails into the palms of his hands

“Will you come visit me every once in a while or at least just call?” Shiro’s eyes widened in surprise, and it clicked in his mind that Keith thought he was abandoning him again.

“Keith, of course, bud. I have weekends off. I’ll come visit every weekend, and I’ll even give Lance my number and you can call anytime you want. I’m not leaving you again, I promise,” Keith looked up from his hands, his eyes misted up; he was clearly surprised. Shiro smiled at him.

“It’s going to take a lot more than 5 miles to get rid of me again, Kit-Kat,” Keith smiled back a bit shakenly, and wiped at his eyes.

“Will you tell me more about your life in Arus, and the Garrison? Everything?” Shiro laughed but nodded.

“Of course, anything you want to know. Maybe me and Pidge will come get you sometime and you can see where I lived while I was here. I know Sam wants to see you again and Colleen, Matt and Pidge’s mom, wants to meet you,”

“Sounds great. Pidge has been telling me about Gunther and Rover, I want to meet them too,” Shiro laughed at that as well, and agreed. He still hadn’t met Rover yet, but he adored Gunther. Shiro was starting to form more plans on what to show his brother, but he didn’t know what Lance and his friends were planning just yet. A knock on Keith’s door took away their attention, and the two brothers looked over to see Lance grinning at the both of them.

“Hey Shiro, Matt’s looking for you. Said he wants to head home,” Shiro nods and starts to stand, Keith stood with him, planning to walk him to the front door, not wanting to leave his brother just yet. The trio walked down the hall, and Shiro asked Lance for a pen and paper. He wrote down a series of numbers and an address.

“Like I said, message me anytime you want, and I’ll make sure I’ll answer,” Shiro handed the paper back to Lance, and Keith looked at the words.

“That’s also my address, so you can visit as well, okay?” Keith nodded and Lance grinned, pulling out his phone to enter Shiro’s number. He talked as he typed as well.

“Shiro, it applies to you as well. I’ll hand my phone over to Keith anytime you want to talk to him, and you can stop by anytime,”

“Thanks Lance,” Lance waved him off as Matt walked over towards them. He jingled his car keys at Shiro, before looking at Keith and Lance.

“You can get my number from Katie, and I’ll make sure you have all the blackmail you want on Shiro,” Keith laughed before saying,

“I’ll hold you to that,” Matt grinned widely, looking over at Shiro,

“It’s too late now, Shiro, he’s one of us now,” Shiro groaned and facepalmed, as Pidge began to chant from the couch area ‘one of us, one of us’. Keith looked on confused, but the smile stayed on his face. Shiro pulled his brother into a hug, and whispered into his ear,

“I’ll see you soon, little brother,” Keith tightened his grip on Shiro, not wanting to let go, but he knew he would see him again soon and release him. He watched Shiro and Matt make for the door, and jumped in surprise when Lance bumped his hip against his own.

“You going to be okay?” Keith looked at him and thought it over, before he smiled at Lance, and nodded.

“Yeah, I think I’m going to be,”

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“Status report,” A group of people were surrounding a table, which held a large map. A chubby man with dark brown hair took a step forward towards the table. He pointed to the map at three separate towns that were close together.

“We believe that subject G-1350, also known as Keith Rhim, is somewhere within this triangular area of these towns; Balmera Caverns, Lake Taujeer and Arus,” The tallest member of the group, clearly the leader, began to frown deeply, the rest of the group wanted to take a step away but didn’t. The leader looked to the chubby man.

“Commander Prorok, assemble teams and send them to each town. Find him,” Prorok saluted and walked out of the room to start his next task. The leader looked over the table at a man with a prosthetic arm and a missing eye.

“Commander Sendak,” Sendak looked up in slight surprise.

“Yes, Sir Zarkon?” Zarkon gave him a cruel smile.

“Your proposal of Operation Champion has just been approved. Start setting up the arena, let’s remind our members what happens when they try to leave our organization without approval,” Sendak smiled almost as cruelly as Zarkon; he had so many ideas he wanted to test in the arena. He saluted as well and went to leave the room as well.

“Oh, and Commander Sendak, when Commander Prorok returns with G-1350, make sure the subject is placed immediately into the operation. Remind him of his place…and make sure he does not succeed,” Zarkon looked up and around at the group; his lead doctor, Haggar, was smiling maniacally, subjects that failed in Operation Champion were immediately sent to her for her experiments. Sendak’s second, Haxus, looked ready to be sent to the Arena once more, eager to fight; he was the one who tested the members for approval of the Champion trials. Then, there was Thace, Zarkon’s Head of Security, he was frowning slightly, but his face did not give away any emotion; he looked to Zarkon for his next orders. Zarkon gave the map one last look.

“You are all dismissed,”

[END OF ACT 1] 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You didn't really think I was done with the Galra, now did you?
> 
> Anyway, the next chapter is going to be a time skip. Since this is end of Act 1 for this story, Act 2 is going to focus more on Keith and Lance's relationship.
> 
> And I don't know if anyone's noticed and gone back and reread but I changed the state I made the characters live in from California to Virginia. Honestly, I know next to nothing about California, and the town of Arus (which is called Crossroads in my OC story) is based on my old college town in Virginia called Salem. It's kinda a small college town, and I'm more confident about my info on Salem than I am about Cali, so hence the change.
> 
> I'm still going to try to have weekly updates but it could change based on my school schedule, since one of my professors likes to assign a paper a week (UGH).
> 
> Anyway, hope you like this chapter and this act. I'm super excited to start up the next act!!!
> 
> Talk to me on tumblr: [chirithy](http://chirithy.tumblr.com/)


	16. cattail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timeskip details

The weeks seem to fly by Lance and he found himself in the second week of July in a sticky heat, trying not to convince himself to spray himself with the hose. The heat of summer was getting to him slightly. He was almost done with his part of the garden; he turned towards the other side of the garden to find Keith in his own straw hat using his watering can. The sight of him relaxing made Lance smile.

Keith was getting better as more days passed. He didn’t have as many nightmares and panic attacks as he used to, though they still did happen, but Coran and Sam Holt kept them supplied in medication just in case. Shiro has been keeping his promise and visited Keith as much as he could. Keith now knew pretty much all of Shiro’s life in Arus after a month of them talking, so now Shiro was helping Lance get Keith up to date in current topics. Keith was doing pretty good, but to Lance and Shiro’s slight dismay, Keith had gained a fascination with cryptids so they just set Pidge loose on that topic.

Shiro, Lance, and Coran were trying to figure out ways to re-introduce Keith into society so he can attend a regular doctor and therapist, but they didn’t know how to continue with gaining the interest of the Galra. Keith had been expressing interest in going to school to learn more than everyone could offer him, and Lance had helped by getting some GED textbooks to study. But, Lance knew Keith was getting frustrated; he wanted to leave his past and start to move on, but everyone was scared of his past coming back and taking Keith away from them, so they kept him slightly in the dark. He got to venture into town and wander around, but they never left him on his own. There was always someone with him, whomever had the time.

Pidge only kept Shiro and Coran informed on what she found out about the Galra; Lance didn’t really want to know, the horror stories from Keith were enough for him. But, one thing Lance did know was that they (being Pidge, Shiro and Coran, as well as quite possibly Matt and Sam Holt) were going to try and expose the Galra and get them taken down. Pidge apparently only needed to find the Galra compound’s exact location and get access to their archives, and the deed would be done. But, she was still having trouble trying to locate them; Keith couldn’t give them exact details from his escape so the route he used couldn’t be measure in distance. Pidge had an inkling of an idea that Keith walked through the entirety of the Olkarion Forest, which went all the way to the state line, so she was now trying to look around the nearby state.

Hunk, in all his wisdom, had begun to teach Keith simple recipes to help Lance more around the house. Now, Lance and Keith could split up the cooking jobs; Keith made breakfast mostly, while Lance made them dinner. Hunk still showed up once or twice a week to tach Keith more and to make sure the two were eating decently, despite Lance’s arguments that he could actually cook. Lance knew that Hunk was just mother-henning Keith. At one point during the weeks, Hunk had come into the kitchen to find both Keith and Lance staring at the ceiling. When he looked up as well, he found a pancake stuck to the ceiling. He had only sighed and asked who did it; the two pointed at the other to blame, but the frying pan was clearly in Keith’s hand. Hunk took the pan away from Keith and made the duo figure out how to get the pancake down, while Hunk finished the meal. He didn’t fail in taking photographic evidence of the two and sending it to everyone on his contact list.

Lance went back to work after a week of getting Keith comfortable at the house. Everyone took turns in keeping him company throughout the days, unless he had decided he wanted to venture into town (which wasn’t often; only to either visit Shiro or Lance’s job at the bookstore). Pidge was the one who was at the house the most, despite all her complaints about Lance’s internet service; Lance was starting to suspect that she had begun to boost the speed. He was almost about to ask if she wanted to move in , since she had manage to get him free cable and Netflix, and he is pretty sure half of her stuff is now residing in his home. She was prefect for helping with Keith, she was able to answer any question that came to Keith’s mind of the time he was gone. He had once asked Pidge what she had meant when she chose her name and came out, and Lance had come home to Pidge explaining the many genders and sexualities. As per the usual for Pidge’s infodumps, Keith was enthralled. Lance had started dinner that night with a fond smile on his face as he watched his friends talk. Keith had actually come out of that conversation, stating that he may be asexual and a demiboy. He wasn’t quite sure about who he was attracted to, and from his experience at the compound, gender became lost to him and confusing. He felt like he was male at some points but he wasn’t sure for the most part. Lance and Pidge just told him to take his time and figure himself out, his response to them was a soft smile.

They figured out over some time that even though Keith loved contact and being touched and hugged, he couldn’t handle it most of the time. It didn’t help that Hunk was a hugger and Lance always had to be touching his friends one way or another. This was another reason Pidge came in handy, she wasn’t much for being touched as well, but she could bring herself to sit comfortably close to Keith and they could be content for the company. It has gotten to the point to where she can lay her legs across Keith’s lap and he won’t even seem bothered by it, so Lance believed that that was progress.

Allura helped on days that Pidge couldn’t. They found that if Keith didn’t have something to do with his hands, he started to get antsy. They found him once picking at his hands and making tiny cuts. He told everyone that he didn’t know what to do with his hands. He was so used to fighting and defending, and now that he didn’t have to, he was lost and his hands felt empty. Helping with the garden could only do so much, so Allura decided to teach Keith something new. She taught him how to braid. She started with hair, her own and then his. At the beginning, he wasn’t the best, the braid were loose and unaligned, but Allura gave different ways of practicing; braiding bracelets. The first couple of bracelets, he didn’t let anyone have, but as he got better at it, soon everyone had a bracelet from him and they all wore them proudly.

Lance was proud of how much Keith was progressing; sure, he’d have some bad days but he was overall doing better. Lance was looking forward to seeing what the future was holding onto for Keith, and for now, only time could tell. But, as long as Keith had his family with him, things could only be looking up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, not the word count that I wanted, but at least, I'm semi-happy with the chapter. I hate timeskips and never want to write one again. The next chapter will probably come faster since I'm finally over this timeskip. Sorry for the wait, but college sucks and I barely had any time to write inbetween homework assignments and midterms.
> 
> And if you look up, you'll find my self-projecting ass projecting onto Keith again (asexual and demigender). I have so many headcanons for him, and I want to work some of them into this fic.
> 
> Ask me about my Keith headcanons or just talk to me on tumblr: [chirithy](http://chirithy.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Next chapter: Keith meets Nyma and her adopted brother who seems extremely familiar.
> 
> OH RIGHT!!! I almost forgot. I have a fic playlist if you would like to listen. The songs vary from ones that remind of Keith to ones that remind me of Lance. Ones that make me think of their relationship to ones that will relate to later chapters. So I hope you enjoy! [of starflowers and scars playlist](https://open.spotify.com/user/bluechirithy/playlist/2kjUMkhTAFJY7TJxt7lTZD/)


	17. begonia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I hope you enjoy the chapter!
> 
> And can I just say I'm extremely thankful for each and everyone of you!!!!!! I love you all!!!!!

Keith had followed Lance to Coran’s bookstore today. He was starting to run low on stories to read; he had begun to read some of Lance’s old college textbooks. The mythology, history and astronomy ones were keeping his attention, while the others were fairly boring. Lance had agreed with him on the boring part, but he took the classes because they were required. Anyway, Keith was currently wandering around the bookstore, searching for something that would hold his attention for a bit. He could hear the front door chime, signaling that someone came in, and Lance was saying someone’s name excitedly, but he paid that no mind. Keith had found himself in the sci-fi section and was currently staring at a book whose cover held a multi-colored robot on it. He picked it up, and read the back information as he walked back towards the front, where he could sit next to Lance.

The summary seemed interesting, something about a group of people transported into space and having to fight a space war in a giant robot that was apparently made of smaller bots. The plot seemed familiar to Keith somehow, but he couldn’t quite place it. As he got closer to the front, he could hear Lance still talking to whomever came into the store. He rounded the last bookcase that opened up to the entranceway, and found himself staring at two new people. There was a girl Lance was currently talking to; she had dark brown skin but with white patches scattered across her skin and face. She had her partially dyed blond hair in dreads which were held in pigtails. She was currently laughing at something Lance was saying, and didn’t seem to notice Keith’s presence. But, the other person, however, did. This person was male, or so Keith presumed, he had light tanned skin and was taller than Lance. He, also, had white shaggy hair, though he had black roots peeking out. The most prominent feature that grabbed Keith’s attention was a metallic prosthetic leg, but Keith tore his eyes from the sight and looked at the man’s face. He was standing next to the door, leaning against the way, and was staring right at Keith. He was squinting at Keith with an expression Keith couldn’t quite place. As Keith looked at him more, the man seemed familiar to him somehow, but he couldn’t place him anywhere in his memories.

“Oh hey, Keith!” Lance’s voice took him away from the man’s attention. He waved at Lance and made his way to behind the counter, where Lance kept a seat for him. He placed the new book he found down onto his chair and made his way over to where Lance was behind the register, the girl was now looking him over.

“Anyway, Keith, this is Nyma. She’s a friend that goes to LCC with everyone,” Nyma smiled at Keith and said hello to him. And Keith remembered the name from somewhere,

“Oh! You’re the girl Allura likes to talk about,” Lance squawked his name out next to him as Nyma started to giggle. Keith didn’t know if he did anything wrong or not.

“Well, that makes me happy. I like to talk about her too,” Keith smiled at that. He watched as Nyma looked over her shoulder at the other man, and called out to him.

“Isn’t that right, Rolo?” This Rolo man’s face changed from a slight frown to a grin as he nodded. When he spoke it was low, but it felt familiar to Keith.

“Yup, I don’t even know Allura but I think I know a lot about her,” It was nagging Keith, it felt so tempted to ask, maybe he should. He didn’t have a bad feeling about Rolo, just that he was familiar. He bit his lip, looking at Rolo again, finding the man staring at him. To his right, he felt Lance edge a little closer to him.

“I’m sorry, but I have to ask. You seem familiar, do I know you?” Rolo pushed away from the wall and walked closer to the counter. He held out his hand.

“Bout time you asked shortstack. I’m Rolo Sakeer…but you may me as a different name, if my guess is accurate,” When Keith went to shake his name, he froze as Rolo stopped talking. On Rolo’s wrist was a set of numbers in faded ink. G-1010. He let out a gasp and backed away some.

“You’re Tens,” Nyma and Lance was now looking at them with very confused and concerned faces. But, Rolo simply smiled and waved off Nyma’s concern at least, and looked at Lance.

“I used to be in the Galra Corps with Shortstack here,”

XXXX

After Rolo’s reveal, Lance made them pause all conversation, and immediately called Coran and Shiro; Coran so he could take over the store so Lance could hear more, and Shiro just in case of Keith having a setback. Coran had given them access to his apartment above the store so they could talk, and had told them he expected to be told of any new information that they get.

The group was now situated in Coran’s living room with Keith sitting on one couch with Lance and Shiro on both sides of him, and Nyma and Rolo sitting on the couch opposite them. There was an awkward silence in the air, since neither party knew where to start. Rolo sighed and rubbed a hand across his face.

“Okay, let’s just get this out of the way. I haven’t been part of the Galra Corps in almost 8 years when they sent me away to join the Army. And I have and want nothing to do with them,” Shiro and Lance almost sagged in relief, but kept their composure. Keith leaned forward, looking at him.

“How did you know who I was?” Rolo shrugged.

“I actually wasn’t sure at first. But, when you looked at me down in the store, I had a thought that it was you. It was your eyes,” Shiro raised an eyebrow at Rolo.

“His eyes?” Lance looked over at Keith, who was now staring at the ground. Keith’s eyes were one of Lance’s favorite things about Keith; they held so much expression that the other man couldn’t get across by body language or speaking, and the color of them were so unique, almost purple but not quite.

“Well, one, I’m pretty sure purple ain’t supposed to be a real eye color but somehow he’s got them, and two, the way he analyzed me and Nym as soon as he saw us and the fire he holds behind his gaze Reminded me of a spitfire kid that was thrown into a training room and then promptly bit the commanding officer,” Keith could remember that incident; it was a day after his arrival and he had been so angry. He was glad Rolo didn’t say what happened next, because after Keith had bitten the commanding officer, said officer proceed to punch him in the face almost breaking his nose. But, Keith didn’t feel like telling Shiro and Lance the story. Keith tried to not tell many stories about the compound; though Shiro and Coran had said his testimony could help them a lot. He had agreed to talk, but only if he was only telling it to Coran. Keith didn’t want Shiro to know what he did at the compound and what had happened to him. He knew at least Coran wouldn’t judge him and could sympathize with him, having been through hellish experiences himself. Keith shook himself from his thoughts, trying to keep more memories from popping up, and setting him off. He looked over at Rolo; he did remember him, but knew him as Tens since they could only be refer to as their serial numbers. Tens had been a few years older than him, and had been good at ammunitions training, but after two years of training with Tens, Keith never saw him again; he had just simply disappeared and Keith wasn’t allowed to question where he had gone. He glanced at Rolo’s prosthetic leg, before looking back at his face.

“What happened to you?” Rolo had sighed and leaned back against the couch cushion. Nyma had glanced at Rolo with a worrying undertone.

“I didn’t pass their test, and I wasn’t to their liking, so…they just sent me away. They dropped me off at an army recruiter and then I was the military’s problem. What’s bad is that I think I did better in the army than I did at the Corps,” Rolo patted his fake knee. There was a smile on his face, but it felt empty.

“This happened three years ago. Some IED that my crew wasn’t ready for, but everyone else got lucky; I was the only one hurt,” Keith frowned.

“I’m sorry that had happened to you,” Rolo just shrugged.

“It happened. It’s in the past now, and I’m moving on. I found myself here, drifting pretty much, but Nyma pretty much adopted me into her family as soon as she met me. And well, the local garage was only hiring vets, and got me a job. I’m doing better than I was. I have a family and support. And if anything, I have Beezer at home to help,” Lance leaned forward with a smile; he knew the name Beezer. Nyma loved to talk about them a bit and loved to show photos as well. Keith tilted his head in confusion.

“Beezer?” It was Nyma that leaned across the coffee table and show Keith a photo on her phone. It was of a pitbull with one green eye and the other a foggy gray. The dog held a goofy wide grin on their face with their tongue sticking out the side. The fur around his eyes was black while the rest that Keith could see was white. The dog was utterly adorable in Keith’s opinion. Rolo had smiled when he noticed Keith’s small smile as well.

“Found him before I found Nym. He was so skinny and was wandering in back alleys. He just came up to me and sat next to me, and I gave him a hot dog I got from the corner store. And just like Nyma did, pretty sure Beezer claimed me as his as soon as the food was given to him. He never left my side after that. Nyma got him into training, and he was registered as an emotional support dog just last year,” And suddenly Lance was struck with an idea, but he pushed it aside for later, when he noticed Rolo looking back at Keith.

“How’d you get out, shortstack?” All three of them tensed up, and Shiro and Lance glanced at Keith, looking to see how he’d respond.

“I escaped,” Rolo’s eyes went wide.

“You did what now?” Keith crossed his arms across his chest.

“I escaped. They wanted to keep me, and I didn’t want that, so I left,”

“But no one escapes,” Keith just shrugged.

“Well, I did,” Rolo looked at him in shock for a few moments, before he started laughing, making everyone look at him in concern.

“You never cease to surprise me. You did rise up the ranks pretty quickly when I was there, and you were what? 13?” Keith shook his head.

“I was 11 when I got there,” Rolo let out a low whistle. Shiro decided to speak up.

“Do you think you can help us?” Rolo looked at him slightly confused.

“With what?” Shiro glanced at Keith.

“There’s a group of us, trying to figure out how to take down the Galra, so what happened to Keith won’t happen to anyone else,” Rolo thought about it for a couple seconds.

“You guys are nuts, you know that, right? They have been in operation for a couple decades, it’s not going to be easy to take them down,” Shiro frowned.

“We know, but we’re working on it. We already have some of Keith’s testimony about what was done to him there. And we have someone working on getting all the information that they can. Just, maybe, your experiences will help us some more,” Rolo looked from Shiro to over at Keith. He could see the scar on Keith’s arm from the tracking device.

“I don’t know how much my experience can help, but sure, whatever,” Shiro looked over at Lance.

“Do you think you can get Coran? He’s the one that keeps track of everything,” Lance nodded and stood up to make his way downstairs. He noticed that Keith got up as well and followed him. He guessed Keith didn’t want to have any flashbacks from hearing Rolo’s side.

XXXX

Once Lance switched with Coran, so he could hear and records Rolo’s story for more testimony, he and Keith sat behind the counter quietly. Lance was looking out the window, waiting for more customers while Keith started to read the book he had found earlier. Lance would glance over at Keith every couple minutes, checking him over for any tension or discomfort. Eventually, his worry boiled over and he nudged Keith with his elbow, making him glance over.

“You okay?” Keith just shrugged, before he turned to a different page of his book.

“How do you feel about knowing another person from the compound?” Keith sighed and put his book down onto the counter. He turned in his chair to look at Lance.

“I don’t know. I really don’t. I’m glad that he’s not in contact with them anymore and he got away, but honestly…I never really thought about him. It’s been years since he left. And when you’re in the compound, you can only think of yourself, of your survival. So he left and I just had to keep going,” Keith sighed again, rubbing a hand across his face.

“You don’t make friends at that place. You were barely allowed to talk, really only communicated nonverbally at a person you were assigned to. You would know people’s faces but never who they were, not their name, their age, or where they were from. Just a set of number and a specific set of skills,” Lance felt his stomach drop; he didn’t like the stories he heard about the Galra. It felt so dehumanizing, just hearing the stories. He couldn’t imagine living the things Keith had gone through. And when he turned to look at Keith fully, he could see that he was starting to shake, and his eyes were getting this faraway, glassy look. Lance leaned forward, and grabbed Keith’s hand; surprised that Keith didn’t flinch away, but worried because he can feel the tremors in Keith’s hands.

“Keith,” He started out softly,

“Stop, you’re headed for an episode. We’ve got you, you are fine,” Keith looked from his hands to Lance’s face, and a soft smile started to spread across his face.

“Thanks, Lance,”

XXXX

Shiro, Rolo and Nyma sat in silence while they waited for Coran. Rolo would occasionally look at the door, as if waiting for something or someone, before glancing at Shiro. Shiro turned his head and looked Rolo right in the eye.

“Is something wrong?” Rolo frowned, and readjusted in his seat.

“Are you related to the kid?” Shiro looked at the door that Lance and Keith disappeared behind a few moments before.

“He’s my little brother,” Rolo sat up some more.

“Can you tell me about him?” Shiro’s eyes narrowed at that.

“Why?” Rolo held his hands up in defense.

“I always wondered about him. We weren’t really allowed to interact with one another, and I’m pretty sure he was the one of the youngest cadets,” Shiro’s frown grew deeper; he hated being reminded that Keith had been taken at such a young age. He looked up when Coran walked into the room.

“He was taken as collateral from my father’s gambling debts…I didn’t know what had happened to him until recently,” Shiro tried to make it clear through his tone that he did not want to talk about Keith’s past. Coran sat down next to Shiro on the couch, and set down a digital recorder onto the coffee table and hit record.

“Hello, my name is Coran Smythe. This is more testimony against the Galra Corps. If you could, can you state your name,” Rolo sighed.

“My name is Rolo Sakeer, my designation in the Galra Corps was G-1010,”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Rolo, now do you mean telling us how you got into contact with the Galra?” Rolo looked away, looking like he’d rather be anywhere but here, but he answered anyhow.

“I was a runaway. No family, no friends, just another mouth to feed at an orphanage. They never noticed I left. But, after a couple months, I got a little too desperate. I was starving, could barely find any shelter, and would often pick fights with other homeless people. But, just suddenly, I heard someone talking to some other runaway, about they could give them a place to stay, food to eat, they just had to submit themselves to their cause,” Rolo closed his eyes.

“The other runaway told them to ‘fuck off’ and the person started to walk away, but I ran up to them. I told them I’d take up their offer,” Coran leaned forward.

“And they were the Galra?” Rolo nodded, but remembered that they were recording audio.

“Yes, they were the Galra,”

“Where are you from, Rolo?” Rolo raised an eyebrow at them.

“Baltimore,”

“Ok…may I ask, what age you were when you were recruited?” Rolo thought about that for a couple moments before answering.

“Maybe, 15, almost 16. I was definitely 16 when the kid showed up at the compound,”

“So you know Keith,” Rolo nodded again.

“Yeah. Never knew his name. Just that he was G-1350, and he was a fighter-class cadet,”

“There are specific classes?” 

“Yeah, there’s a couple. Fighter, ammunitions, science, security, tactics. There may be a couple more but it’s been years since I left,”

“Do you mind going into detail about the different classes?” Rolo sighed and got more comfortable on the couch.

“I can try but we may be here a bit,”

XXXX

Once Lance believed Keith was calm enough, he slid the book back to him. He told him to go into Coran’s office where there was a giant comfy chair. Keith smiled at him, taking the book and making his way into the office. When Lance turned away from the office door, a smile on his face, he found a customer standing there, looking at him.

“Oh hello there! My apologies, I didn’t hear you come in. May I help you with something?” The customer, a skinny pale man with greasy-looking black hair, and who may be taller than Lance, but Lance couldn’t be sure since the man was slouching slightly, gave him a smile, but it was just as greasy as the man’s hair. Lance was very uncomfortable already for some unknown reason.

“Hello, yes. I was wondering if your bookshop would have a series called ‘The Champion Trials’?” As he spoke the title of the book, Lance typed into the computer, but nothing came up. Lance frowned, and shook his head.

“I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t see anything in my system about that,” The man pointed to the backroom that Keith was in.

“Perhaps, your co-worker would know,” Lance raised an eyebrow, before shaking his head again.

“I’m sorry, sir. But, Keith doesn’t actually work here. He’s the owner’s nephew, and likes to come in and read when he has the chance,” Coran and Lance had come up with the lie when people asked why a non-employee was behind the counter. The customer frowned at Lance’s answer.

“Oh…I thought I had seen him somewhere before. He looks very familiar, you say his name is Keith? I thought he worked here,” The customer took a couple steps back towards the door. He glanced at Lance before he left.

“Thank you for your time. I will find what I’m looking for another time,” Lance was left very confused at the door closed behind the customer, but he shrugged his shoulders. He look to the computer and began typing down some of the sales reports Coran had left him. 

Lance failed to notice a camera peeking in from outside the window and taking his photo.

Outside, the greasy man hit ‘send’ on his phone, sending away a couple of photos of unknown subjects, and called the only number on the phone.

“This is Team B in Arus…G-1350 spotted. Images sent are people that know him, will continue to investigate. Awaiting future orders,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! I introduced Nyma and Rolo!!!
> 
> Nyma's character design is having her as African-American with vitiligo.
> 
> Rolo is of Indian descent who bleaches his hair white, and I kept the canon missing limb.
> 
> Beezer is a pitbull that is blind in one eye, and is registered as Rolo's emotional support dog.
> 
> Talk to me on tumblr!!!! [chirithy](http://chirithy.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Remember there's a playlist to the story if you wish to listen to it. [of starflowers and scars Spotify playlist](https://open.spotify.com/user/bluechirithy/playlist/2kjUMkhTAFJY7TJxt7lTZD/)


	18. Not an update (again)

Hi everyone! I’ll delete this when I can actually put the chapter out. But I just wanted to say I’m sorry for not updating for almost two months. When December hit, I had the onslot of finals week and a really bad depressive episode. And well now, I currently don’t have any internet to actually update with, and probably won’t have access until I go back to school in two weeks. 

But I’ll make it up to y’all! I’ll most likely have two chapters done by then, maybe even three if I can my thoughts in order and actually write down what I want to do next.

I’m also writing character profile for the main characters and also minor characters that haven’t even shown up yet (Slav, Kolivan, Antok, and some more). They’ll most likely consist of their full names, a flower association, ages, and some background information. I’ll put those on my tumblr when I have the chance.

Message me on tumblr, if you have any questions! Hope to see y’all soon again!! Heart you!!!


	19. catnip

Keith awoke from a dreamless sleep. They were rare but not unwelcomed, but they left him slightly groggy and sort of out of it. He rubbed at his eyes to rid himself of some of the sleepiness before he glanced at the clock on his bedside table. It was 7 in the morning, and he knew Lance was already outside, tending to the garden. He threw his legs off the side, sliding his feet into the slippers Lance had gotten him. They were red with cat face over his toes, Lance had a similar pair but in blue. Keith stretched his arms over his head, before he stood. He made his way out of his room and towards the kitchen. He glanced out the kitchen window and could see Lance moving around with his watering can. He would be done soon, most likely.

Keith began to take out stuff for breakfast and set to work. And by the time Lance was coming into the door twenty minutes later, Keith was placing two omelettes onto the table. Keith sent him a grin before disappearing back into the kitchen and coming back with two coffee mugs. Lance sat down at the table, and almost dug in, but paused.

“Morning, Keith!” Lance was a little overly cheerful, but Keith wished a good morning as well, before he dug into his meal as well. Lance ate a little bit before he spoke up once more.

“So I have a plan for the day, but unfortunately, I will need you to get out of the house for a bit while I get it done,” Keith rose an eyebrow at Lance and chewed his food slowly. He didn’t like the sound of that. He swallowed his food.

“Where am I going?” Lance wasn’t really looking at him.

“Well,” He drew out the word, before he continued on,

“Pidge and Hunk are actually going to be helping me, so you can’t go with them. Shiro is at work, so is Matt. Shay is at her internship, and Coran and Allura are at the bookstore,” Keith was getting more confused.

“So I’m going to the bookstore?” Lance shook his head.

“Oh no, I don’t trust those two to not blab about what I’m doing,” Keith set down his cutlery, and just looked at Lance.

“Lance, where am I going then?”

“I was getting there,” Keith rolled his eyes, making Lance chuckle.

“You’re going to go hang out with Nyma. I mean, she’s working at the moment, but she doesn’t mind you hanging around until I’m done,” Keith just rose his eyebrow again; he didn’t have much of an opinion on Nyma. He was grateful towards her for taking care of Rolo, but other than that he didn’t really know much about her, besides the stuff Allura likes to gush about (how pretty her hair was, when she wore those purple contacts that made her apparently look amazing, how proud she was of her skin condition, etc.). Allura’s crush on the girl was very cute in Keith’s opinion. So, he simply shrugged his shoulders at Lance; he would have preferred to just stay at home, but Lance was apparently making that not an option. Lance grinned at him, before finishing up his food.

Keith finished his food as well, and after he placed his plate back in the kitchen sink, he made his way for his room to get dressed for the day. Lance waved him off and grinned even more as he typed something on his phone. Keith sighed a little as the bedroom door closed behind him, before he made for his dresser. He pulled out a gray pair of shorts, a red short-sleeved hoodie and a black tank top. He didn’t know how long he was going to be gone, so he grabbed the bracelet-making kit that Allura had given him. As he was walking out of his room, he reminded himself to grab the book he had started reading from the living room before he left.

Lance grinned as Keith stepped back into the living room. He looked at the stuff in Keith’s hands and held up a finger to make Keith wait a moment before he disappeared in his office. Lance reappeared a minute later, holding a small canvas bag, most likely to hold Keith’s things. Keith thanked him, taking the bag and placing his kit into it. He, then, walked over to the coffee table and picked up his book, slipping it into the bag as well. Once Keith closed the bag and looked back at Lance, Lance smiled at him once more.

“Ready to go?” Keith nodded.

XXXX

Lance dropped Keith off in front of a small café by the name of Sweet Nebulas. Nyma was waiting in the doorway, a purple half-apron around her waist. She waved at Lance as Keith stepped out of the car.

“Today the big day?” She asked and Lance nodded in response, making her smile wider. Nyma threw an arm across Keith’s shoulders.

“Well, I’ll take care of Keithy-boy here, no worries, okay?” Lance thanked her, before he looked over at Keith.

“Have fun, okay? I’ll try to not to take too long, but it will be worth it, you’ll see,” Keith could see that Lance was practically buzzing with excitement; he really wanted to know what Lance was planning, but Keith could wait.

“See you later, Lance,” Keith said with a smile, before he closed the car door. He and Nyma watched Lance drive off before Nyma led him into the café. 

XXXX

Nyma had to get back behind the counter and go back to work so she told Keith to take a seat anywhere he wanted. He chose a booth at the back of the house, where he was mostly hidden from view, but could watch Nyma work. After making a couple of drinks and sending customers on their way, she looked towards Keith.

“Do you want anything, Keith? Lance said you can start up a tab,” Keith almost declined; he was still kind of full from breakfast, but the scent of chocolate in the air made his mouth water.

“Anything chocolate, please,” Nyma sent him a wicked grin before she nodded. He watched her start to make some sort of drink, and just as she finished it, she set it aside and walked over to the pastry display, grabbing a few things. Nyma glanced at the front door, before grabbing everything she had made and then made her way over to Keith. She slid the drink across the table before placing the plate down in front of him. On the plate was 3 cookies and a couple of chocolate croissants, but he was then looking at the drink with some confusion. It looked like a watery chocolate milkshake of some sort. He looked at Nyma for an explanation.

“It’s a double chocolate frappe. It’s like a coffee slushie with a lot of chocolate in it. Take a sip and see if you like it; I have a back-up in case you don’t,” Keith did as he was told, taking a sip, and once it touched his tongue, he liked it immediately. The bitter aftertaste of coffee didn’t take away from the chocolate. He smiled up at Nyma.

“It’s good, thanks Nyma,” She ruffled his hair with a smile as well, before she made her way back to the counter.

XXXX

Keith wasn’t quite sure how much time had passed; he had read a bit of his book, stopping after a few more chapters, before he switched over to making some bracelets. The one he was continuing was for Shay, with pale yellow and pink paracord. He had asked Hunk for some color recommendations and Hunk had responded with her favorites; Keith hoped that she would like it. He almost jumped in fright when someone slid into the chair on the opposite side of him; he looked up to find Nyma smiling at him again.

“What are you making?” Keith held up the almost finished bracelet; he only needed to make another few loops and close it off before he could give it to Shay.

“Oh, that is so cute! Do you think you could make me one when you’re finished?” Keith smiled, nodding. He opened his bag and pulled out multiple colors of the string.

“Choose two or three of your favorites,” Nyma shifted though the colors, before pulling out two strands of the same color blue and one white. Keith set aside Shay’s bracelet since it was pretty much finished. He took the strands from Nyma’s hand, before wrapping them around her wrist to get a good measure.

“Loose or tight?” He looked up at her.

“How you have it is perfect,” Keith marked the length before taking it away from her wrist. Making the white the center string, he set to work. He could feel Nyma’s eyes staring at him as he braided, and he looked up at her. She had this soft look to her eyes and smile, and it made him smile in kind.

“Who taught you this?” Nyma asked, breaking the silence.

“Allura…I just needed to do something to my hands. I was so used to fighting, I was getting antsy, and I was starting to feel useless. Helping Lance with his garden had helped, but Allura just gave me more to work with,” Nyma nodded, seeming to understand.

“Rolo was the same when I got him settled. I showed him how to knit. He was horrible at first, but now he’s actually pretty good. He really only does it on bad days, but it’s still enough to help,” Keith grinned at the thought as he continued to braid. Nyma tapped the table to get his attention back onto her.

“Anyway, I’m over for a reason. Lance said he’s almost done with his errand so he’ll be coming to get you soon,” Keith thanked her and watched as she stood to walk away. However, she paused for a moment and glanced back at him and his kit. Keith could see she was biting her lip, before she spoke up once more.

“You made the bracelets that Allura’s been showing off, right?” Keith nodded.

“Do you think you could make a matching one of hers for me?” Keith glanced over the remaining strings in his kit; he didn’t quite have all of the colors he was given. He wondered which she meant, and asked her so.

“Which one?”

“The pink, white and blue one?” Now Keith knew which one she was asking for, but he had left the blue that was needed for the bracelet at home.

“I can make one, but the color I need for it is at home. Do you mind waiting for it?” Nyma seemed to sigh in relief before she nodded with a grateful smile.

“Of course, thank you. Just send it with Lance once you’re done with it,” Keith nodded once more, and waved her off as he went back to his braiding.

There was a lull in business, Keith and Nyma were pretty much the only ones in the front part of the store. Keith was pretty much reveling in the quiet of the café, and he let his mind drift as he worked. A couple minutes seemed to pass when the quiet was interrupted by the bell over the doorway. He heard Nyma greet them and ask if they wanted anything, and Keith pretty much tuned them out. It wasn’t until he heard a strange clicking noise that he looked up.

Keith looked up to find someone taking photos of the café; Nyma seemed a little concerned but she let the man take his photos. Though, Keith did frown when he found the camera directed at him, and a few photos were snapped. He decided to speak up, since he really didn’t like his photo taken by strangers.

“What is this for?” The man behind the camera took the equipment away from his face, and Keith had a sense of déjà vu; this person seemed familiar but Keith couldn’t quite place him. The man gave him a lopsided smile that made Keith feel squeamish, before he answered,

“I work for the local paper, and we wanted to do a review of this place. I just need photos, the interviewer should be here sometime this week,” Nyma smiled over at him, and shrugged her shoulders. She didn’t know what to make of this, but let the man work. The paperwork he had shown her seemed legit. Keith looked like he was about to argue with the man, and try to get him to stop taking his photo, but was cut off by the bell ringing again, and Lance calling his name.

“Keith!!! Time to go! I can’t wait to see how you react,” Lance said with a huge smile on his face. He finally looked around the room, and tilted his head in confusion at the camera guy. He shrugged his shoulders and walked past him to make his way over to Keith, ignoring the fact that the guy had taken his photo as well. Keith stood and stretched his limbs after sitting for a bit, before he put away his things. Lance had lean over and grabbed the last cookie Keith had been hoarding, making Keith pout and Lance chuckle. Lance’s presence helped Keith ignore the clicking of the camera. Lance handed the plate over to Nyma, who in return, gave Lance a drink; it seemed like a replica of what she had given Keith earlier.

“Thanks for everything, Nym. I see you later,” Nyma giggled at that and nodded. She glanced at Keith from over Lance’s shoulder, making Keith remember the braided bracelet in his hands.

“I’m not quite done, so I’ll send this one with the other one once they’re both done,” Nyma grinned at that, and leaned over the counter to ruffle Keith’s hair once more.

“That’s sweet of you, Keith, thanks again!” Keith waved her off as he followed Lance to the entryway. The camera man ignored Lance as he walked past, seemingly checking over his photos, but once Keith was right next to him, he looked up again with that same lopsided grin.

“See you later, Keith,” Keith frowned at that, and ignored him and the feeling that he was getting from the man. He waved over his shoulder at Nyma, and left the shop, the bell ringing behind him.

XXXX

Lance was almost giddy as they made their way home, and had a skip in his step as they made their way to the front door. Lance glanced at Keith, with an excited look in his eyes.

“Ready?” Keith tilted his head.

“For what?” Lance giggled and shook his head.

“You’ll see,” Keith merely shook his head at Lance, before he followed him into the house. Once he was inside, he glanced around to see if there was anything different from the morning; Keith didn’t really see anything until he turned towards the kitchen and spotted something. He tilted his head in confusion at a fabric covered structure that had three towers of sorts. It had three boxes at different levels held by poles; one at floor level, one near his waist, and the last was probably face high. He looked at Lance with clear confusion written across his face, Lance seemed to only laugh at that.

Keith set his bag down on the entryway table before taking cautious, slow steps towards the structure. He couldn’t see anything inside the floor box, nor anything in the middle height one, but once he was face to face with the tallest one, something reached out and touched him. Keith willed himself not to jump away, and pretty much crossed his eyes to look at the thing touching his nose. It was a….paw?

A moment passed and the something that was touching him poked its head finally, and Keith found himself face to face with a cat. It was a beautiful reddish-orange with bright yellow eyes, and they were purring at Keith. Keith lifted one of his hands up next to the cat’s face, but paused before touching them to allow the cat to smell him. The reaction was immediate; one sniff of him and the purring grew louder, and the cat was rubbing their head against Keith’s hand with a bit of force.

Keith looked at Lance, practically starry-eyed, and found Lance with his phone pointed at him and a soft smile adorning his face.

“You like her?” Keith nodded his head, glancing back at the cat. He adored her actually, he looked back at Lance with a question on his lips.

“What’s her name?”

“Ruby…There’s actually another one around here somewhere. Oh wait, there she is,” Lance said, as another cat came trotting down the steps and straight to him. Lance leaned down and picked her up. She was a light gray color with one white paw, and when she looked at Keith, Keith found she had the bluest eyes he had ever seen. The cat bumped her head against Lance’s chin, making him chuckle.

“This is Sapphire. She and Ruby apparently come as a pair, which is fine, because I loved them both anyhow. You don’t mind them, do you?” Keith shook his head; of course, he didn’t mind. He had only known Ruby for a few minutes, but he knew he would fight for her. Said cat still had his hand hostage, using it to rub her face.

“Why did you adopt them?” Keith asked, and watched as Lance kiss the top of Sapphire’s head before placing her back on the ground.

“Well…Rolo kind of gave me the idea, when he told us about Beezer. But, as much as I love dogs as well, I’m not home as much to help take care of them and I don’t want to leave it all to you. Anyway, cats can pick up on emotions fairly easy, and apparently their purring is therapeutic. I thought that they could help when you had bad days, and keep you company when you don’t want to leave the house,” Keith smiled again at that. Lance was so sweet to him.

“Thank you, Lance,” Lance shrugged him off.

“No problem, Keith,”

XXXX

**Chat: Keith Protection Squad**

**starboy:** [image sent]  
**starboy:** First contact

 **actualgordanramsey:** Ok, that’s adorable.

 **starboy:** hold on, there’s more  
**starboy:** [image sent]  
**starboy:** [image sent]  
**starboy:** [image sent]

 **hirohamada:** I knew this was a good idea.  
**hirohamada:** Good job, Lance

 **notalright-all.left:** Gosh, I haven’t seen him this happy in a long while  
**notalright-all.left:** Just thank you, Lance

 **starboy:** no probs  
**starboy:** it was sorta win-win. I get a cat, and get to see Keith to be happier  
**starboy:** #blessed

 **liongoddess:** please don’t start the hashtags again

 **starboy:** no promises  
**starboy:** oh! Ruby is following Keith around like a duckling  
**starboy:** [image sent]

 **hirohamada:** Ok, not to break away from the cuteness of the cats  
**hirohamada:** But I think I found something  
**hirohamada:** Lance, tell Keith I’m hanging out with him tomorrow

 **notalright-all.left:** Found something? Related to Keith?

 **hirohamada:** Yes, but I’m not sure. I want to run it by him, before I send you and Coran the information

 **notalright-all.left:** ok, but take precautions just in case

 **hirohamada:** can and will do  
**hirohamada:** I’ll send a message if it accidentally triggers something

 **notalright-all.left:** that’s all we ask

 **hirohamada:** Lance?

 **starboy:** Hmm? Sorry, was trying to figure out what to make for dinner

 **actualgordanramsey:** speaking of dinner, Lance, what do you and Keith want for tomorrow?

 **starboy:** oh, it’s time for the weekly visit again?

 **actualgordonramsey:** yes let me see my son

 **starboy:** Keith says that he would like to have your mac and cheese again

 **actuallygordanramsey:** can do

 **starboy:** [image sent]  
**starboy:** my adoring audience  
**starboy:** this is actually kind of freaking me out. I’m used to Keith watching me cook, but now I have Keith and two cats watching my every move

 **liongoddess:** They’ve adopted him as one of their own  
**liongoddess:** He pretty much is a cat  
**liongoddess:** Do you remember how many times we find him asleep in sunspots and in weird positions?

 **starboy:** true  
**starboy:** alright, signing off, need to focus on dinner  
**starboy:** later

XXXX

**Chat: starboy to actualgordanramsey**

**starboy:** so um  
**starboy:** If I thought Keith was cute, in an attraction sort of way, how would you respond?

 **actualgordanramsey:** well  
**actualgordanramsey:** It’s okay to be developing feelings for him  
**actualgordanramsey:** You do spend a lot of time with him and that could be an influence  
**actualgordanramsey:** You see him more than all of us, and probably know more about him

 **starboy:** I guess I do

 **actualgordanramsey:** do you want a relationship with him?  
**actualgordanramsey:** something more than the one you currently have with him

 **starboy:** maybe  
**starboy:** I just….ugh I don’t know!!!!

 **actualgordanramsey:** ok, then what do you know?

 **starboy:** That his smile is adorable  
**starboy:** That I hate when he has bad days and I can’t do anything to help  
**starboy:** That he thinks of us first before himself  
**starboy:** That he’s incredibly cute in the morning when he’s not really awake  
**starboy:** That I really want to hold his hand  
**starboy:** That I want to protect him from all the shit that had happened to him  
**starboy:** that he makes me feel like I am so much more than what I am  
**starboy:** That he makes my house feel like an actual home

 **actualgordanramsey:** Lance…

 **starboy:** Sorry Hunk…I need to go. I’m messing up dinner. I’ll talk to you later

**starboy signed out**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry!!!!!! I didn't mean to have a hiatus this long, but I didn't finish the chapter before school started up again and I just got caught in the riptide of new classes. But, now I've got the hang of them somewhat, and have managed to write some of the chapter during the slow classes. I have to start writing up the next chapter soon, but I get hit by more assignments.
> 
> Anyway, the cats! I'm so happy to be including the cats now. I've been waiting to introduce them; though they didn't have names until I started typing. Ruby was almost either Cinnamon or Garnet, while Sapphire was gonna be either Lapis or Bloo, but Ruby and Sapphire just stuck. And of course, I named them after the Steven Universe gems. Lance and Keith weren't the only ones that adopted cats during this chapter as well. Hunk got a calico named Pearl, Pidge got a gray shorthair named Peridot, while Shiro got a fluffy black one named Amethyst. Ruby is a Somali cat, while Sapphire is a Russian Blue.
> 
> I think the usernames are kinda self-explanatory, but here's who's who (though I don't have ones for Shay or Matt yet, if anyone has any suggestions):  
> starboy - Lance  
> actualgordanramsey: Hunk  
> hirohamada: Pidge  
> notalright-all.left: Shiro  
> liongoddess: Allura
> 
> I'll let you guess what sort of photos sent them. The first was of Keith being booped on the nose by Ruby, while the last was of Keith sitting at the breakfast bar with Ruby and Sapphire on each side of him watching Lance work.
> 
> Music Playlists: [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK-204yZ97oqtfxByEoPzrMQu3jjtuIe6) and [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/user/bluechirithy/playlist/2kjUMkhTAFJY7TJxt7lTZD)
> 
> talk to me on tumblr!!! [chirithy](http://chirithy.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Thanks for reading!!!! See y'all next chapter!!!


	20. marigold

It started as a bad day.

Keith awoke from a nightmare; one about the laboratory and one of Haggar’s experiments on him. He awoke to the feeling of knives dancing across his skin and a scream almost leaving his lungs. But, instead of being terrified and disoriented like he normally was, Keith was angry. He felt frustrated. He hated how weak he felt, a victim to his own mind sometimes. He hated that he had such a good day yesterday and one dream took away that feeling. He wished he could just move forward. Wished everything would just be done. But, he knew it was still a long path ahead. He knew Pidge was still trying to find even just a tidbit of information, just to gain access to the Galra and that would be all she needed to practically take them down. He knew she could do it, but a part of Keith wished she could be faster, even though he knew she was doing all she could. 

Keith knew that soon Rolo would be introduced to her, and maybe she would be able to advance forward. He was glad Rolo could help when Keith couldn’t. If only he could do more.

He sat up from bed, noticing how it was still dark outside. There was a warmth next to his hip, and he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before looking down. Ruby laid there, unconscious to the world, but somehow still purring away. It brought the smallest of smiles to his face. He brushed a fingertip across her head, making the purring grow, before he decided to get out of bed and let her sleep. Keith grabbed the red blanket Lance had given him from the chair in the corner, and then set off for the living room.

Keith got comfortable on the couch, turning on the television and putting it on a random channel. The TV told him it was 5 in the morning, before going onto some sort of historical documentary. He knew Lance would be awake soon to start his day; he knew nothing was planned for today, and that Pidge was coming to him instead of him going out again. So that was something that was good for him, Keith didn’t think he could deal with unknown people today.

Keith wasn’t paying attention to anything really, not the time nor the television, not the telltale signs of the sun rising outside, or the soft footsteps that could be heard coming towards him. He was staring at the television but wasn’t really taking anything in from it, not taking in any details. A chirping noise sounded next to him, making him come back into awareness, and he found himself staring at Ruby. She made the noise once more, before hopping onto his lap and laying down. He put a hand on her soft orange fur and went back to staring at the TV.

Since he quit paying attention to the time, it wasn’t long to him to notice Lance coming down the stairs, ready to start his day. Lance raised an eyebrow at Keith.

“You ok?” Keith just shrugged at Lance’s question. He couldn’t even bring himself to talk, which apparently was worrying Lance, because he frowned.

“I’m going to go water the garden real quick, and when I come back in, I’ll make some breakfast. Are pancakes okay?” Keith nodded; he wasn’t really hungry, but he knew he should eat a little bit. Lance smiled, before walking a little closer to Keith to pat Ruby on the head a couple times.

“She really loves you. Okay, be back,” Keith took over from where Lance was petting Ruby after Lance made his way towards the mudroom. Keith simply just kept petting Ruby and stared at the television once more.

XXXX  
**Chat: Keith Protection Squad (7:04 AM)**

 **starboy:** sorry I know it’s early  
**starboy:** but I think it’s a bad day for Keith  
**starboy:** I just found him staring blankly at the tv  
**starboy:** he also won’t talk

 **hirohamada:** should I wait another day to come by?

 **starboy:** I would question why you’re awake at the moment  
**starboy:** but then I remembered you don’t really sleep  
**starboy:** anyway, no. I think you should come anyway  
**starboy:** I don’t think he should be alone today  
**starboy:** but maybe wait on asking him about that new info you found

 **hirohamada:** can do  
**hirohamada:** I found a new show for me and him to watch anyway  
**hirohamada:** so I’ll just bring that instead

 **notalright-all.left:** he may be dissociating

 **itsarockfact:** if that is the case  
**itsarockfact:** then, please make sure you only touch him with permission  
**itsarockfact:** and talk to him and try and keep him in the present

 **hirohamada:** ok thanks  
**hirohamada:** Shiro, is Matt up yet?  
**hirohamada:** I need a ride

 **notalright-all.left:** Not yet, but he will be soon

 **starboy:** that sounds so ominous

 **notalright-all.left:** it’s not really  
**notalright-all.left:** it’s just he only seems to wake at the scent of coffee

 **hirohamada:** that’s just how the Holts work  
**hirohamada:** dad can’t understand English until he drowned almost two cups of coffee

 **starboy:** mood

 **hackervoice:** im up Pidge 5 minutes

 **hirohamada:** so he’s awake, just not very functional

 **hackervoice:** insult me more and I eat donuts without you  
**hackervoice:** Lance I’ll get her there in like 20 minutes  
**hackervoice:** want breakfast? Yellow’s?

 **starboy:** yes please

XXXX

Lance poked his head back out of the mudroom. Keith hadn’t moved at all in the couple minutes he’d been gone. He went and leaned against the back of the couch, looking down at Keith. Lance found that Sapphire had joined Ruby and Keith at some point and was leaning against Keith’s thigh, facing the television. He walked around the couch and sat next to Sapphire; he noticed Keith glance at him.

“So Pidge will be here in like 20 minutes. Her and Matt are bringing breakfast for us,” Keith nodded at this, giving his ok. Lance remembered what Shay told them to do.

“After we eat, I’m going to get ready for work and head off. But, like I said Pidge is going to stay here, says she has a new show she wants you both to watch. I have no clue what it is,” There was a glimpse of a smile appearing onto Keith’s face and Lance was counting it as a small victory.

“Then, of course, when I get off of work, I pick up Hunk so he can make us mac and cheese. How about a movie night tonight?” He smiled over at Keith, and wasn’t even down-hearted when Keith only shrugged his shoulders again. Lance decided to just keep talking as they waited for the Holt siblings.

While they waited, Lance noticed that Keith was coming back into awareness; making more expressions, some one-worded sentences. He knew not to push, but he did want to know what had pushed Keith into this episode when the day before seemed so well. He was cut out of his thoughts when he heard Keith start to laugh. A warmth flooded his chest at the sound, before he turned to see what the cause was. Ruby decided that she wanted to clean Keith’s hair and was now on the back of the couch, rubbing her own head against his and licking up wild strands. Lance quickly pulled out his phone and took a couple of photos and a short video to send to the group in a little bit.

“I’m pretty sure Ruby has claimed you as her child,” Keith tilted his head back so he could look Ruby in the eye, and she simply head-butted him in response, causing the smile on his face to grow. Sapphire butted her head against Lance’s hand, not liking that she wasn’t getting much attention at the moment, and making Lance laugh.

There was a knock at the door that took their attention from their cats, and they found Matt and Pidge standing at the front door; Matt was holding up a paper bag while Pidge was waving at them. Lance stood up to let them in, and heard Keith get up as well, following him to the door. Pidge pushed her way past Matt and Lance, heading straight for Keith.

“Keith, I found a new show for us to watch. I think you might like it,” Keith smiled at her, before saying,

“Can’t wait,” Matt spoke up after that about their food, and caused them to go sit at the kitchen table for their breakfast. Lance and Keith sat across from the siblings, and waited for Matt to divide up the food. Pidge had a container of French toast slid in front of her, while Lance got two wrapped breakfast sandwiches tossed to him, Matt himself had some sort of breakfast casserole in front of him, and lastly, Keith also got two wrapped breakfast sandwiches given to him.

“One’s sausage and egg, while the other is bacon and egg with just American cheese on biscuits. Lance’s are weird; they’re on bagels, with just sausage and pepperjack cheese,” Lance stuck his tongue out at Matt as he unwrapped his breakfast. As Pidge was cutting up her French toast, she directed her attention towards Lance.

“Mama Keone says hi and wishes you’d come see her more,” Keith had heard this name before, but couldn’t quite place it. He looked to Lance for an answer.

“One of Hunk’s moms. She owns and runs Yellow’s, which is where they got the food,” Keith nodded in understanding. He hasn’t met Hunk’s mothers yet, but Hunk loved to talk about them and his little sister while he was teaching Keith to cook. With every lesson was a new story about Hunk’s family, and Keith loved to hear about them. After Lance answered Keith’s question, he turned back to Pidge.

“I’ll try to go see her doing my lunch break. I’ve been craving one of her specialty sandwiches anyway,” Pidge seemed happy with that answer and went back to her own breakfast. They didn’t really talk while they continued on with the breakfast; Matt didn’t seem fully awake yet and Lance and Pidge kept glancing at Keith while he ate. Once Lance was done with his food, he glanced at his phone and saw the time.

“Whelp, I have to start getting ready for work,” He said as he stood up. He stepped into the kitchen for a moment to throw away his trash, before heading for the stairs. Matt had finished up half of his food before he closed the container.

“I have to leave anyway. I want a couple more hours of sleep before I have to head to the Garrison,” Pidge waved him off as he stood as well, and packed his food back into the bag. She gave him a one-armed hug, before he left out the door; he shouted his goodbye to Lance up the stairs. And when Keith finally took his attention away from his food, he found Pidge staring at him; she smiled once she realized he was looking back.

“How are you today?” Keith gave her his usual answer and just shrugged, making Pidge pout. She took another bite of her breakfast, and chewed as she looked around the room.

“So where are the cats?” Keith knew that Sapphire didn’t get up from the couch, but he didn’t see where Ruby had disappeared to.

“Sapphire is on the couch, dunno where Rubs went,” Pidge smiled at Keith’s nickname for Ruby, and almost cooed. As if knowing she was being talked about, Keith watched as Ruby came running from his bedroom hallway and straight for him. She hopped up onto the empty chair next to him and rubbed against his arm. He smiled at her before petting her head.

“Here she is,” Pidge just shook her head endearingly, before turning at the sound of Lance coming down the stairs, dressed in his work clothes. He walked to the entryway table and grabbed his wallet and keys, putting them in his pants pocket, before turning back to Pidge and Keith.

“Okay, my shift ends at 4, and I’ll grab Hunk as I’m coming back, so he can make us dinner. Pidge, you need anything, just put a message up in the chat,” Pidge nodded at that as she finished her last piece of French toast. He smiled at her, before looking at Keith.

“Keith, don’t forget to feed Saph and Ruby, ok?” Keith also nodded in response, before he stood and grabbed Pidge’s and his own trash to throw away. As he was in the kitchen, he could hear Lance and Pidge whispering about something, but decided to ignore it. He opened the fridge and grabbed a water for himself and one of the sodas Pidge liked, before heading back into the other room. Lance smiled again at his return.

“Alright, I’m headed out. Keith, if you need anything, just tell Pidge so she can send us a message,” Keith nodded once more, as he made his way towards the couch. His guess was right in which saying Sapphire hadn’t moved from the couch, though she had taken over Keith’s blanket, making him pout some. He heard Lance said goodbye once more, before hearing the door close and shortly after, a car start up and drive off. Keith moved Sapphire over a little bit, just so he could sit back in his spot, and Pidge hopped onto the couch just as he got comfortable, having already plugged her laptop into the television.

“Now this show is going to be a bit weird, but it will apparently all makes sense in later episodes. So are you ready?” Keith grinned and nodded his head, and watched Pidge turn the tv channel to start the show.

XXXX

After a couple episodes, Keith understood why Pidge had to give the warning about it being a bit weird and confusing, but it was interesting nonetheless. There was soul-swapping, time travel, and some sort of a murder mystery, and the main characters was interesting to say the least. Keith had to say he liked the one with the multi-colored jackets. But, as the episodes went on, there was a voice at the back of his brain, reminding of his dream, and again, the phantom traces of knives across his skin acted up. He decided to ask Pidge to pause the show.

“Pidge, can I ask you something?” Pidge turned in her spot, looking at him; though he was looking at his hands.

“You know you can, you don’t even have to ask that first,” Keith felt his lips lift into another smile at that.

“Have you found anything new about the compound?” He finally looked up at her, and saw that she had frozen and looked startled. Pidge rubbed the back of her head, looking at her laptop.

“I mean…I have, but I wasn’t sure if I could ask you. You seemed kinda off today; me and Lance thought you were having a bad day,” Keith shook his head; he knew he was lying but he needed to do more.

“I was just tired,” The lie came out simple and believable. He didn’t know how he would respond to her new information, but Keith wanted to help with her search. He was tired of feeling useless. Pidge was biting her lip, before nodding to herself.

“Ok, fine. I was going to just ask Rolo, but he’s not available until the weekend and I don’t want this lead to get lost,” She stood up from the couch and unhooked her computer. She exited out of the show, and into her folder of information that she had. There still wasn’t much, except for Rolo and Keith’s accounts and any information about the compound that the two could tell the group. But, the new information she had happened upon on the internet, and she wasn’t even sure if it was relevant, and she said just that.

“It might not even be related to the compound at all. But, I had decided to search for a variety of terms for Galra. Like Galran as a matter of fact. And well, an article popped up. Before I let you read the article, do you know someone by the name of Doctor Honerva?” Keith tried to sort through his memories but he couldn’t think of a single instance of hearing that name, so he shook his head, which made Pidge frown. That apparently was showing her that the article was possibly even more irrelevant.

“Anyway, this doctor apparently helps with the military, and well, her expertise is torture tactics. I couldn’t read much of the article; it was just too inhumane to me, but apparently not to the government. Anyway, she decided to name these techniques Galran Tactics,” Pidge pulled up the article about the techniques and was about to hand over the laptop, but she paused to say some more.

“There’s a picture of the lady at the bottom of the article, and I’m serious about the tactics being hard to read. I honestly feel sorry for anyone that has to go through them,” Keith nodded before taking the computer from her. He decided to skim over the techniques, not really wanting to know much about them. Though as he skimmed though, a chill was going up his spine. Some of these techniques seemed familiar to him, and made the phantom pains on his skin flare up, and his eyes grew wider. He scrolled farther down and was then face-to-face with the photo of the doctor. He dropped the laptop onto the couch quickly.

He could hear Pidge’s voice say something, but it was like he was underwater. He didn’t know if he was breathing, he just curled into himself, putting his hands over his ears as phantom voices began to speak to him.

XXXX

**Chat: Keith Protection Squad (12:34 PM)**

**hirohamada:** Code Red

 **notalright-all.left:** what happened

 **hirohamada:** I don’t know, I don’t know  
**hirohamada:** I’m sorry  
**hirohamada:** he told me he was doing better  
**hirohamada:** he asked if I had found anything new  
**hirohamada:** I should’ve waited but I didn’t  
**hirohamada:** but i just let him  
**hirohamada:** thought the info was nothing anyway  
**hirohamada:** so I showed him and he reacted  
**hirohamada:** and now he’s like shut down  
**hirohamada:** this info I found must have triggered something bad

 **starboy:** I’m going to ask Coran if I can go home early  
**starboy:** Pidge, the meds Coran gave us for him are in the bathroom, small orange bottle  
**starboy:** give him only one  
**starboy:** if he’s still bad when I get there, we’ll give him another  
**starboy:** we got this Pidge

 **hirohamada:** I’m so sorry

 **notalright-all.left:** Pidge, it’s alright. Mistakes happen

 **hirohamada:** still doesn’t make me feel any better  
**hirohamada:** I don’t like it when he’s upset

 **notalright-all.left:** I know, I am too. But it’s going to be ok

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was going to type more, but I liked how I ended this one. But, gosh, I hope most of this is understandable; I kinda had a very high fever while I was writing this, but I edited it with a clearer head.
> 
> I'm going to try and have a bi-weekly schedule, but it will all depend on my school schedule, but I have been able to churn out two new chapters and I'm so happy!!!
> 
> I guess people can guess who Honerva is, but Keith will reveal it in-story in the next chapter.
> 
> I hope people don't mind the chatlog things, I thought it was an interesting addition. Also, itsarockfact is Shay's username and hackervoice is obviously Matt. I may changed them, but I kinda like them.
> 
> Also, I got to reveal part of Hunk's family. I'm so happy, I've had his family made up since I started writing this story. Like I said, I have entire character profiles if anyone would like to know more. Just send me a message.
> 
> Anyway, talk to me on tumblr if you want!!! [chirithy](http://chirithy.tumblr.com/)


	21. snowdrop

Lance probably broke a couple speeding laws, but he felt like he could waste no time. He was worried about both Keith and Pidge and didn’t want to leave them by themselves for too long. The groupchat had gone silent after Shiro attempted to reassure Pidge, and he had gotten a couple of PMs from Hunk and Shiro while he was driving, but he hadn’t looked at them yet. Once Coran had heard what happened, he was quick in relieving Lance of his duties for the day and asked for updates on the situation.

It hadn’t taken him long to pull into his driveway and he nearly tripped over himself as he speed-walked up his pathway. The sight that greeted Lance once he was inside his home was that of Keith stretched out across the couch, Ruby laying on his back, and he appeared to be sleeping. Next to him in the recliner chair was Pidge who keep staring at Keith and wringing her hands, she looked so concerned. She looked up when Lance opened the door, but her attention went back to Keith. Lance sighed in relief that she was able to handle the attack.

He dropped his keys and wallet on the entryway table and made his way over to Pidge, who still hadn’t looked back at him. Lance knelt down in front of her, and grabbed her hands when he noticed that she was digging her nails into the skin of her palms.

“Pidge,” He said in a soft voice. She was now looking at him, but every once in a while, she would look back at Keith as if he was going to disappear on her. Lance squeezed her hands with his.

“Pidgey, you did good. He’s going to be fine,” Lance could see the shininess of her eyes, and knew she was close to crying.

“But, it’s my fault it happened in the first place,” Lance shook his head as Pidge spoke.

“It’s not your fault,”

“But–“ 

“No, Pidge,” Lance cut her off.

“It’s not your fault, and I’m pretty sure Keith will agree with me. You didn’t know what the information was and you didn’t know how it would affect Keith. But, remember, you said Keith had asked to see it. The only thing at fault is whatever that info was that triggered Keith, okay?” Pidge’s lip was now quivering and Lance could see she was barely holding back the tears. He knew how much she hated see her friends troubled or worse.

“Pidge, can I hug you?” Lance barely got the word ‘hug’ out of his mouth before Pidge basically launched herself at him with a sob escaping her lips. He wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back, as she began to cry into his shoulder. He rocked her side to side and just let her cry it out. Pidge was always so strong and only a few people have seen her break, but damn, did it hurt Lance to hear her cry. He let out a few tears himself as he held her.

Soon, Pidge’s sobs simmered down, and she pulled away from Lance’s hold, rubbing at her eyes. Lance gave her a small, soft smile, still holding onto her shoulders.

“Feel a bit better?” Pidge only nodded, still rubbing at her eyes, and then glancing at Keith once more, who had simply slept through Pidge’s breakdown. Ruby, though, Ruby was staring at Pidge, and she made a chirping like noise at Pidge when she looked over, making Pidge smiled some.

“Why don’t you go up to your room and take a nap? I’ll watch over Keith and give the group some updates, sound good?” Pidge nodded, and they both stood from the floor. Pidge actually started to yawn and she walked over to the stairwell, and Lance ruffled her hair. But, before she began her ascent up the stairs, she turned back to Lance and pulled him into one more hug.

“Thank you, Lance,” Lance smiled, hugging her back.

“You’re welcome, Pidge. Now, go get some sleep. I’ll wake you for some lunch in a little bit,” Pidge nodded, letting go of Lance. She gave Keith one last glance before she made her way up the stairs.

Once Lance heard the door close to the room Pidge had claimed, he sat in the recliner, pulling out his phone. He checked over Keith, before he gave some updates.

XXXX

**Chat: Keith Protection Squad (1:24 PM)**

**notalright-all.left:** Hunk, please calm down. Lance said he’d update us when he could.

**actualgordanramsey:** I know, I know.  
 **actualgordanramsey:** I’m just worried  
 **actualgordanramsey:** Pidge went offline and she rarely does that

**notalright-all.left:** I know, but we just have to wait

**starboy:** Not for long though

**actualgordanramsey:** Lance!!!!!! Oh thank god  
 **actualgordanramsey:** Please update us on what’s going on

**starboy:** No problem  
 **starboy:** Pidge must have gotten Keith to take the medicine because he’s napping right now  
 **starboy:** As for Pidge, she had a small breakdown  
 **starboy:** I made her go take a nap once she calmed down a little  
 **starboy:** I think she’ll be fine, but she’s still blaming herself

**actualgordanramsey:** I wish there was something I can do to help

**starboy:** Well you could make us food  
 **starboy:** I mean, you did promise Keith dinner  
 **starboy:** And that way they both can have some comfort food and you have a way to calm your nerves

**actualgordanramsey:** I can work with that  
 **actualgordanramsey:** I’ll still come over at 4:30 though  
 **actualgordanramsey:** Give them time to recover

**starboy:** That works  
 **starboy:** Do you still need a ride over here or are you good?

**actualgordanramsey:** I should be good. I’ll ask Mama if I can borrow her car

**starboy:** Hug her for me  
 **starboy:** I was going to see her during my lunch break  
 **starboy:** But…yeah

**actualgordanramsey:** I will

**starboy:** Alright, I think Keith is waking up  
 **starboy:** I’ll keep you updated if anything else happens

**notalright-all.left:** Thanks Lance

XXXX

Lance looked away from his phone as Keith made a couple of noises and started to sit up; Ruby hopped off of him and onto the back of the couch. Keith rubbed at his eyes before looking over at the recliner, a look of confusion appearing on his face when he found Lance sitting there.

“Lance?” Lance just smiled at him before he spoke,

“Hey bud, how are you feeling?” Keith had sighed and leaned his head against the back of the couch, staring up at the ceiling.

“Floaty,” Lance let out a soft laugh at that. He uses the same medicine that Keith had taken so he knows how Keith is feeling. Lance shifted his legs up on the recliner, getting comfortable, knowing that he might be there for a bit.

“Yup, that happens. It’ll fade in a bit,” Keith made a humming noise in response, before he tilted his head to look at Lance again.

“Hey Lance, can we watch more of that history expedition show?” Lance leaned forward and grabbed the remote from the coffee table.

“Of course,”

XXXX

After a bit of time, both Lance’s and Keith’s stomachs started to rumble in hunger and Lance got up to make some lunch for the three of them. Deciding to make some simple grilled ham and cheeses, he set to work. It wasn’t long for him to make a few, but as he got ready to make the last one, he called out to Keith.

“Hey Keith? Can you go wake Pidge? She’s in her room upstairs,” Lance heard a mumble of agreement and then footsteps going up the steps. Lance hummed to himself as he plated up the sandwiches and pulling the last one out of the pan after a couple minutes. As he made his way into the dining area, Keith and Pidge were making their way down the stairs. The duo sat next to each other at the table and Lance sat across from them. And without talking, they started to eat their lunch. Pidge got through halfway through her sandwich before she turned to Keith.

“Keith, I’m sorry,” Keith turned his head to look her, eyebrows raised in confusion.

“What are you sorry for? Did you do something wrong?” Pidge was looking at her plate now, picking at the bread.

“That article. I shouldn’t have shown you that article. I made you upset and you had an episode,” Keith glanced at Lance, before speaking again,

“Pidge, it wasn’t your fault. That article, that woman, the information…that is what made me upset, that’s why I had an episode. Not you,” Lance smiled into his sandwich; Keith was pretty much saying the same thing Lance had told Pidge earlier. Pidge looked back up, still looking upset.

“But–“ Keith shook his head as Pidge tried to argue.

“No, Pidge. You didn’t hurt me, you helped me. You got me my meds, you got in contact with Lance, and then sat with me until I fell asleep. Thank you, Pidge,” Pidge was looking a little misty-eyed as Keith talked, and began to rub at her eyes again. Keith smiled at her, before he leaned against her and pulled her into a one-armed hug. He rubbed her arm in comfort before releasing her.

XXXX

Keith was waiting for them to ask what exactly it was about the article that set him off, but it was so relieving when they didn’t ask and were apparently just waiting for him to breach the topic himself. He waited for them to finish their lunch and then make their way back over to the couch. Pidge decided to sit next to Keith on the couch, keeping him in close contact; Keith spread his red blanket across both of their laps, and Red jumped down and sat inbetween them. Lance sat back in his recliner, and tried to argue when Pidge had taken the remote from him, changing it to her alien history show, but he decided to just leave it be.

Keith glanced back and forth between Pidge and Lance, and then looked at Pidge’s laptop that was sat on the coffee table. He bit his lip, and leaned forward, grabbing it.

“Keith, what are you doing?” Pidge asked, pausing the show and grabbing Lance’s attention. Keith handed the laptop to Pidge, asking her to open it and unlock it. The article was still onscreen, the picture of Dr. Honerva staring at Pidge. Keith couldn’t look at the screen again, not wanting more flashbacks. Pidge clicked the recording program and waited for Keith to talk. Lance was debating going to his office, not sure if he wanted to hear about this person.

“She went by a different name in the compound. She is Haggar, the main scientist. She put me through a lot of experiments and a lot of pain. Those techniques she wrote about in the article…I’ve been put through some of them,” Pidge winced at that; she had read most of the article and the few techniques she had read about just sounded horrible and incredibly painful.

“Do you want to tell us about some of the things she had done?” Pidge’s voice sounded so small, so worried that Keith would be set off again. But, Keith shook his head, and Lance and Pidge let a breath of relief.

“I’ll tell Coran,” Lance and Pidge agreed to that and decided to let Keith go with Lance to work the next day; Lance sending a message to Coran to keep him in the loop and be prepared. As Lance and Keith talked, Pidge looked up this Dr. Honerva person and was getting more information on her, even finding an office in her name in the next state over. A rush of excitement went through Pidge.

“Keith!!” Keith jumped in surprise at the volume of her voice, and turned to her.

“I found her! You helped me find her. And with me knowing where she is, I can probably find the compound. You did it, Keith! I can probably take them down soon!” Pidge’s smile was infectious and spread to Lance and Keith both, and they watched as she looked away from them, typing away at her computer.

Somehow, this gave Keith hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the next chapter will contain some of what Keith went through by the hand of Haggar. I'm not looking forward to writing it, but it will put some of Keith's past in perspective. I will put a trigger warning at the beginning of the chapter to remind y'all.
> 
> Anyway! I got accepted to write in the safeklancewriters Mini-Bang! And I can't wait to get started working on that. It'll be more fluffy than what this fic is putting you through. I won't give any details of what the fic is about yet, but look forward to it in two months time maybe!
> 
> You know, Friday March 2nd is the Season 5 release, but it's also my birthday. And I think the greatest birthday gift I'm getting this year is knowing that you all are reading this story and supporting me. I can't thank you all enough, you make me feel very loved and appreciated and it does wonders to my depressed ass. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!!
> 
> of starflowers and scars music playlists: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/user/bluechirithy/playlist/2kjUMkhTAFJY7TJxt7lTZD) and [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK-204yZ97oqtfxByEoPzrMQu3jjtuIe6)
> 
> Hit me up on Tumblr!!! [chirithy](http://chirithy.tumblr.com/)


	22. cactus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **READ THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE BEFORE READING THE CHAPTER!!!! PLEASE!!!!**  
>  This chapter will have Keith and Rolo talking about some things that happen to them at the Galra Compound. There will be mentions of torture, violence, injuries and some more. I decided to not go into full detail, since I found I wasn't completely comfortable with writing it.
> 
> Now the chapter is very dialogue heavy but I think it is very clear on who is speaking what, but if you do get confused, please do not hesitate to tell me and I can fix it up and have names next to who's speaking.
> 
> Anyway, that's it for the author's note, there will be one at the end of the chapter about upcoming chapters and other things. ENJOY THE CHAPTER~~

Keith was sat at the dining table across from Coran. He was clearly uncomfortable and nervous, with every few seconds, he would glance at the camera pointed at him before looking away. They hadn’t started talking yet, but Keith was already regretting it. Coran tapped the table to gain Keith’s attention.

“Don’t be nervous, my boy. Just imagine that this is going to be a normal conversation between me and you,” Keith gave him a flat stare, before finally speaking,

“Considering the topic, I’m allowed to be nervous,” Coran gave him a soft smile in response.

“Yes, that’s true. But, remember anytime you want to stop, you just say the word,” Keith nodded; he didn’t plan on stopping the talk, he just wanted to be done. He watched Coran pull a small remote out of his cardigan, pressing a button. A red light turned on onto the camera, telling the two it was now recording. Coran settled into his seat, off-camera, before he looked at Keith ready to start his questioning.

“Can you state your name for the record?”

“Keith Akira Rhim-Shirogane,”

“Can you tell me who the Galra Corps are?”

“A militaristic guerrilla group. They want to take over the government, start a war, anything to put them in control,”

“How did you come to be involved with them?”

“I was used as collateral to pay off my father, Ryou Shirogane’s, gambling debts to the Galra Corps. I was taken from my home in Marfa, Texas at age 11 and transported to the main compound,”

“How long were you there for?”

“10 years, I am now 21 years old,”

“Were you allowed to be called by your name there?”

“No. I was stripped of my name, given a class and an identification number. I was known as G-1350 during my time there,”

“We have spoken to Rolo Sakeer, also known as G-1010, about the classifications. Though he could only go into detail about four of them, he told us to talk to you about the Fighter Class,”

“Only those in Fighter Class know the exact details about the class, the other sections are given fragments of what we were taught,”

“Alright, do you mind giving us a brief rundown of what being in Fighter Class meant?”

“I was in everything but name, a soldier. I was taught to fight with various weapons and many fighting styles, drive any vehicle, how to build and deconstruct bombs, how to speak in seven different language besides the ones I had already known and many other things,”

“Interesting. May I ask what weaponry you were taught?”

“Swords, guns, polearms, knives, bows. I was more accomplished in swords and knives, but I was decent in all other types,”

“And the fighting styles?”

“Karate, MMA, Tae Kwon Do, Kenpo, Ju-jitsu, and Tang Soo Do,”

“I see. I’m sorry to ask this Keith, but during your training, did you ever have to hurt someone?”

“…Yes,”

“It’s okay, Keith. You were forced to, you won’t be held accountable for your actions,”

“Yes, I’ve hurt people during my training. I’ve broken bones, and have made people bleed. If we lost in our training, we were demoted and put through worse training. I did what I could to not be demoted or get hurt,”

“Did you?”

“Did I what?”

“Get hurt?”

“Yes,”

“Do you mind telling me about some of your injuries, any of them?”

“My first day, I bit the trainer and he broke my nose. Then, as I trained over the years, I’ve been stabbed maybe 4 or 5 times, have had a broken arm, several broken ribs and fingers. There’s more but I don’t want to talk about that,”

“That’s okay, you’ve told me enough. You’ve talked about demotion, do you mind telling me about that?”

“I was only demoted once, when I broke my arm. The training was gruesome, they made me train despite my injury. 20 hours out of 24, we were training. 3 hours to sleep, 1 to eat. If you failed demotion training, you went to Science for testing,”

“Testing?”

“…”

“Keith, you don’t have to tell me,”

“No, you need this. Sometimes, they didn’t care if you were demoted or not, they would take you for testing. It could have been anything from medication to medical experiments…to…to how to handle torture tactics,”

“Ah, yes, that brings us to why we are talking today,”

A picture is slid to Keith, who wouldn’t look at it and simply showed it to the camera. It was the image of Dr. Honerva.

“Do you know this woman, Keith?”

“We knew her as Haggar in the compound. She was the main scientist and doctor. She would lead every experiment and test,”

“The article that we found with her image is about torture techniques and she gave the name Dr. Honerva. I’m guessing that the techniques used in the article were inflicted on you and other members, am I right?”

“Yes,”

“Thank you for telling me,”

“Are we done speaking now?”

“Yes,”

Coran pressed the button once more, turning off record, and Keith practically deflated. Coran quickly got out of his seat to around the table to Keith, placing a hand on Keith’s shoulder.

“Are you going to be okay?” Keith rubbed at his eyes and nodded, having lost the energy to speak anymore.

“I have known many people, see many horrors and what they can do to man. Keith, you are strong even though you don’t feel like you are. Stronger than steel, and much stronger than the people who’ve hurt you. I promise you, we will bring them to justice and you will be able to breathe freely once more,” Coran squeezed Keith’s shoulder in comfort. Keith breathed in deeply, held and released slowly, before taking his own hand to reach up and squeeze Coran’s back. Coran looked down at Keith and found him sending the older man a shaky but relieved smile. At least, this part was over.

XXXX

A week or so earlier

XXXX

Rolo looked between the recording device and the camera, and pointed to the recorder.

“I’d prefer to be a bit discreet,” Coran nodded, putting the camera away. Shiro scooted over on the couch to give Coran more room as he set the recorder down onto the coffee table.

“Hello, this is Coran Smythe. This is testimony against the Galra Corps. If you could, can you state your name?”

“My name is Rolo Sakeer, my designation in the Galra Corps was G-1010,”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Rolo, now do you mind telling us how you got into contact with the Galra?”

“I was a runaway. No family, no friends, just another mouth to feed at the orphanage. They never even noticed I left. But, after a couple months on the street, I got a little too desperate. It was winter; I was starving, could barely find any shelter, and would often pick fights with other homeless. But, just suddenly, I heard someone talking to some other runaway about how they could give them a place to stay and food to eat, they just had to submit themselves to their cause. The other guy told them to ‘fuck off’ and the person started to walk away, but I ran up to them. I told them I’d take their offer,”

“And they were the Galra?”

“Yes, they were the Galra,”

“Where are you from, Rolo?”

“Baltimore,”

“Okay…may I ask, what age you were when you were recruited?”

“Maybe 15, almost 16. I was probably 16 when the kid showed up at the compound,”

“You mean Keith Rhim?”

“Yeah, I guess. Never knew his name. Just that he was G-1350, and that he was a Fighter-Class cadet,”

“There are specific classes?”

“Yeah, there’s a couple. Fighter, gunner, science, security, and tactics. There may be a couple more, but it’s been years since I left,”

“Do you mind going into detail about the different classes?”

“I can try but we may be here a bit,”

“That is perfectly fine, we have the time,”

“Alright, if you say so. I don’t actually know much about the Fighter Class, you might have to ask the kid about that one for more detail. I know they were taught a bit of everything but more focused on combat,”

“That is fine. I can talk to Keith at a later time,”

“Alright, so first was my class. Gunner. Actually, officially we were called Ammunitions, but everyone in the class just nicknamed it Gunner and it caught on. And I think it’s kinda obvious what the class is about,”

“A bit, but detail is needed for the testimony,”

“I know, I know. Anyway, we got basic training like every recruit, but our main focus was firearms. Everything from a pistol to a sniper rifle,”

“Hmm, their training is a bit excessive,”

“You think,”

“Is that all you wish to say about the Gunner class?”

“Pretty much,”

“Alright, that’s fair. Next is Science,”

“Basically medical training. We got hurt a lot during our so-called training, and they needed abled people to help with injured ones,”

“Interesting, Security?”

“What happens when you fail Fighter-Class,”

“Really?”

“Yep. Demotion happens and if you kept being demoted, you're moved to a different class. You can make requests, no guarantee you’ll get what you want, but most washed-out Fighters went for Security. Security still had some Fighter-Class training, but they were more focused on keeping the compound secure. They would be the ones who know the compound inside and out,”

“Does the name Thace mean anything?”

“Oh yeah, definitely. He became Head of Security right before I left. How do you know him?”

“I wish to hold that information off for now,”

“Oh, I think I got ya. Anyway, the last Class is Tactics. They were the one organizing the faux combat trials. They would be the ones to strategize plans, set up formations, and other stuff like that. There actually wasn’t many of them. Pretty much, the Galra’s plan was go headfirst into stuff and just go with it, but I think they need some planning I guess,”

“Interesting, thank you for telling me this Rolo,”

“You’re welcome, Coran,”

“I only have one last question, if I may,”

“Sure,”

“How were you organize into these classes?”

“That one is unexpected. It was weird, when we first got to the compound, we were put into this room that only had a table with objects on it,”

“I’m guessing this objects meant the classes,”

“Yes. There was a sword for Fighter, gun for Ammunitions, a first-aid kit for Science, a badge for Security and a map for Tactics,”

“That is an intriguing way of assigning class types,”

“I guess,”

“Thank you again, Rolo. I think I’m done questioning,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The languages Keith knew before the compound were English and Japanese. During his training, he learned Korean, Spanish, Russian, German, French, Mandarian and Arabic.
> 
> Anywho, next chapter is one I'm looking forward to; Keith figuring out his feelings for Lance!  
> Also, I think there is at least two-three more chapters left in this act. I've started writing the last chapter for the act and gosh, fight scenes are fun to write. That's the only tease I'm giving you for upcoming chaps!!
> 
> AND HOLY FUDGENUGGETS!!! OF SCARFLOWERS AND SCARS IS ONE YEAR OLD NOW!! MY PRECIOUS BABY!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you for reading this story and keeping up me. I know I sometimes go into sporadic hiatuses but I try to make up for them.
> 
> talk to me on tumblr: [chirithy](http://chirithy.tumblr.com/)  
> of scarflowers and scars music playlists: [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK-204yZ97oqtfxByEoPzrMQu3jjtuIe6) and [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/user/bluechirithy/playlist/2kjUMkhTAFJY7TJxt7lTZD)


	23. pansy

Keith sat next to Shiro on Lance’s front porch; his brother decided to visit a few days after Coran’s interview to give Keith some time to recuperate. Shiro had promised Keith that he wouldn’t watch the new information interview, even though Shiro knew he couldn’t hate Keith for what he did or what he been through. Keith was currently leaning against Shiro, just watching the wind blow through the garden. It was a comfortable silence between the two of them, and had been since they had come outside. But, soon, the silence wasn’t enough; Keith wanted to hear his brother’s voice.

“Hey Takashi,” Keith felt Shiro shift to look at him, to see if he’d continue, which Keith did.

“Anything new in your life?” Shiro had hummed in response and tried to think of an answer.

“Amethyst got into my backpack the other day and went to class with me,” Keith let out a snort. Shiro had sent everyone a text with Amethyst being held by his professor, who didn’t seem to care about a random cat showing up in their classroom, and Lance had immediately shown Keith so he could laugh at his brother. Everyone had sent their own cat photos in response; some were simply sleeping while others were caught doing weird things.

“I know that one. Anything else?”

“Hmm…oh. I kind of got asked out on a date,” Keith pulled away from his brother to look at him fully, with an eyebrow raised.

“Kind of?” Shiro was now blushing, which made Keith want to tease his brother more.

“I did get asked…,”

“I hear a ‘but’ coming up,” Keith continued, and Shiro was now chewing on his bottom lip.

“But, I’m not sure if I should accept,” 

“Why not? Who is this person?” Shiro shook his head, trying to clear some of his thoughts.

“Just someone from my Psychology course, we had been project partners, we got along really well and then he asked after we turned it in,” Keith looked at his brother and saw that he was looking up at the sky, his thoughts far away.

“Takashi, why do you not want to go on a date with him? Do you not like him like that or something?” Shiro sighed and leaned back against his arm.

“I don’t know. I don’t know how I feel about it, I’ve actually never really thought of romance before. I mean, I can’t say I’m not interested because I do like him, but I’m just not sure if I like him like that?” Keith turned to lean against the porch railing and look at his brother.

“How does he make you feel?” Keith asked, causing his brother to look at him in surprise, an eyebrow raised.

“What?”

“How does he make you feel? Happy? Sad? Annoyed?”

“He…hmm, that’s tough actually,” Shiro was now thinking it over.

“He makes me feel like I’m the only person in the room sometimes, his attention fully on me, but it isn’t uncomfortable. When I am uncomfortable though, he tries to break the tension and make me laugh with like a joke or a pun,”

“Does it work?”

“The jokes? Yeah, sometimes they’re just so dumb you have to laugh at them, but mostly, they’re genuinely great jokes,” Keith made an understanding noise, and tried to urge his brother to go on but they fell in silence again.

“I’m probably not the best judge on romance, Takashi, but it does sound like you like him at least a little bit,” Shiro shrugged, now frowning.

“It just sounds a lot like your and Lance’s relationship,” Keith was now raising his eyebrows.

“It does?” Shiro nodded, before going on.

“He makes you feel safe and secure, changes topics when you stop to get uncomfortable, can make you laugh on your bad days. It kind of like that with Adam,” Keith filed the name for later information, but he was now thinking of him and Lance. His brow furrowed, thinking over the things Shiro had said.

“How do you know you have romantic feelings for someone?” Shiro shrugged once more.

“The way Allura goes on about it is that you’re always thinking about that person when you’re not near them. You always want to talk to them, or you see something and are reminded of them. You know or you want to know everything about them. When you see them smile at you or laugh around you, you feel something like butterflies in your stomach. Stuff like that,” Shiro looked away from the sky and over at his brother to find him now turning red.

“Keith, you okay?” Keith nodded, hugging his knees to his chest. He was supposed to be helping Shiro, not rethinking his relationship with Lance; he can do that later.

“Does…does that sound like that the case with you and Adam?” Shiro shook his head.

“Not really, some of it, but not all of it,” Keith nudged his brother with his foot, to make Shiro look at him.

“Maybe, talk to Allura about this? She’ll know more than me,” Shiro huffed, before laying back onto the porch.

“Maybe later. I kind of don’t want to think about this right now,” Keith let out a soft laugh, he could understand that. He nudged Shiro again,

“Want to go play a video game?” Shiro smiled at him, before nodding.

XXXX

It was later that night, after Shiro left and Lance came back and fixed him and Keith some dinner, that Keith laid in bed and stared at his ceiling. Ruby was laying on his chest, purring away as he petted her fur. He thought over what Shiro said about romantic feelings. 

Keith was usually thinking of what Lance was doing when he wasn’t near Keith; just thinking of how his day was going or what they could do together when Lance got home. When someone in their friend group would show Keith a joke or some sort of meme, he would instantly think of Lance and wonder if he’d like it. Lance was always keeping him comfortable, making him happy, able to make him laugh on both good and bad days. Keith did know a lot about Lance’s life, but there was always something new he learned every day, and Keith cherished those moments.

He wasn’t quite sure, but it sounded a lot like he might have romantic feelings towards Lance. His eyes went wide, his face burning red, he sat up quickly in bed, dislodging Ruby off of him.

“Holy shit. I like Lance,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm...I don't know if I want to have another chapter of Keith thinking about his feelings for Lance or just go straight to the last two chapters of Act Two. You choose!!!!
> 
> I mean I have started both of the last chapters. But, I want to know what you guys want.
> 
> Anyway, it may be like two or three weeks until I update again. I have a fudge ton of schoolwork I need to finish for this semester, but I will try to have some good chapters done for y'all by the time I'm done.
> 
> Talk to me on tumblr!!!! [chirithy](http://chirithy.tumblr.com/)
> 
> OSAS Music Playlists: [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK-204yZ97oqtfxByEoPzrMQu3jjtuIe6/) / [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/user/bluechirithy/playlist/2kjUMkhTAFJY7TJxt7lTZD/)
> 
> Edit: July 20th, SHIRO HAD A CANON BOYFRIEND I SWITCHED ANTOK’S NAME TO ADAM


	24. juniper

It was surprisingly easy the next day, for Keith to pretend that he didn’t just realize his feelings for Lance. He’d still feel his face heat up when Lance sent him a smile, and his heart beat a little faster when Lance gave him a hug. But, overall, everything was the same between him and Lance.

Even though, Keith was now aware of his feelings, he didn’t know what he was doing with them. His relationship with Lance was almost perfect in Keith’s eyes, but the addition of romance could make or break them. And Keith really didn’t want to lose Lance. Lance was the one of the main reasons he was getting better. Keith knew he shouldn’t rely on Lance so much for his own recovery but he did help a lot.

Keith was jostled out of his thoughts, when Pidge plopped herself down on the couch next to him, and making him look at her. There was a worried look in her eye.

“You’re sighing a lot, are you okay?” Keith didn’t even realize he had been sighing, but he shook his head.

“I’m fine, just some things on my mind,” Pidge nudged him

“Anything I can help with?” Keith simply shrugged his shoulders.

“Not sure,” Keith could tell Pidge was pouting, before she made him look at her again.

“Just tell me, dingus. Keeping it in will only hurt you more. Having someone hear your thoughts is a lot better than getting lost in them,” Keith smiled at Pidge’s saying, before sighing once more and leaning his head against the back of the couch.

“What should you do when you realize you have a crush on your friend?” Pidge was now looking at him with wide eyes, she hadn’t been expecting that. But, she quickly made her face look neutral, and leaned against Keith’s shoulder.

“It’s gonna sound tough, but you just have to been honest and tell them your feelings,” Keith let a whine, which made Pidge giggle, before she continued.

“It will hurt holding in these feelings, but you can loosen up just having it out in the open. They may freak out at first, but then you’ll find out if they’re mutual or not. If they’re not, give them space, and try to lessen your feelings so you don’t lose your friend, but then again, if it’s mutual, there will be a whole new world open up to you,” Keith was actually surprised about her knowledge in this, it made him wonder.

“Has this happened to you before?” Keith asked, and then felt Pidge nod her head against his shoulder.

“I developed feelings for my friend, Luki. She was in my grade, and was like super cool but really sweet,” Keith looked down as Pidge was talking, and found her face a light shade of pink.

“She was going to move away before we started 10th grade and I decided I couldn’t hold it in anymore. So I confessed,” Pidge was now playing with the bracelet around her wrist, and Keith nudged her to continue the story.

“It wasn’t mutual, but she didn’t hold my feelings against me. We still talk, she’s still my friend and even three years later, I still have some feelings for her, but as time goes on, it doesn’t hurt anymore,” Keith moved his arm to pull Pidge into a one-armed hug, which made her smile again.

“But that is just my opinion, Keith. You never know how someone can respond,” Keith made an acknowledging noise, leaning his head back against the couch again. It was sound advice, and Keith might actually take it. Pidge spoke up once more, stopping his thoughts again,

“Can I ask who?” She was looking up at him now, and Keith chewed on his lip before answering,

“Lance,” He heard Pidge let out a soft ‘oh’ before was greeted with silence. It couldn’t tell if it was bad or not, so he asked,

“Is that bad?” Pidge shook her head.

“Actually no. It’s a bit surprising but not that much. You two are really close, sometimes it’s only natural that you could develop stronger feelings for him,” Pidge pulled away from him, with a giant grin on her face.

“Sooooo are you going to tell him?” Keith let out an amused huff, but shook his head.

“I just figured out my feelings. I might wait a little more,” Pidge nodded at that.

“I can understand that, but tell me when you’re ready, I wanna help!!” Keith was now laughing, but agreed to let Pidge help when he thought it was time.

A blur of white outside caught Keith’s attention, and he saw the mailtruck drive off back towards town. He released Pidge and got up, stretching.

“I’m going to go get the mail. Why don’t you get the next movie set up?” Pidge made an agreement noise, and Keith heard her get up and move around as well before the door closed behind him. He hummed a random tune as he made his way down the walkway to the mailbox. When he opened it, he only found a few piece of mail. All for Lance, of course, but a flyer on the bottom of the pile caught his attention.

‘ **SMOKE IN THE SKY, TIME IS UP, YOU HAVE 5 MINUTES,’** Keith’s heart seemed to freeze when he saw the insignia on the bottom of the paper. The Galra symbol. He didn’t want to, but he had to. He looked up.

Keith was greeted with a plume of purplish smoke, somewhere deep in the woods area in front of Lance’s house.

5 minutes.

Keith didn’t hesitate, he ran back into the house, throwing the door open and scaring Pidge.

“Pidge, is that all your stuff? Everything?” Pidge, now worried, nodded.

“Grab it all. Now, quick,”

“Keith, what’s going on?” Keith was practically frantic at this moment.

“Pidge, please I’ll explain in a minute, but put your stuff in your backpack and follow me,” Pidge did as she was told, and followed Keith upstairs.

In the beginning of Keith’s escape, Keith wandered around the house, and during that time, he had found a crawlspace in Lance’s room, just inside his closet. Why Keith was inside Lance’s closet was only because he was curious about the other man, and he wanted to borrow another soft hoodie.

Once the two were in Lance’s room, Keith handed Pidge the Galra flyer. He heard her gasp, and she gripped the back of his shirt. He continued on into Lance’s closet, towards the back and moving an old box to show the entrance to the crawlspace.

“Pidge, I’m sorry. But you have to go in there,”

“No, Keith! Let me call someone; Lance, Shiro, Coran or even the police! Please,” Keith could hear the shakiness of her voice, she was scared and about to cry. So he turned around and pulled her into a hug.

“Pidge, I love you. I love every single one of you, you saved me, and now it’s my turn to save you. Please don’t call anyone. They’ll only get hurt or worse,” Pidge was now crying into Keith’s shirt.

“You’re just going to go back willingly?” Keith let a snort.

“Hell no. I’m going to make them work for it,” Pidge pulled back, wiping at her face. She had a hard look on her face.

“Make them pay, Keith,”

“I will,”

“Keith?”

“I will find you again. Just please survive until then,” Keith pulled her into a hug again, and promised.

Once Keith was sure Pidge and her equipment was securely hidden away in the upstairs crawlspace, he ran down the stairs to Lance’s office. He grabbed the baseball bat off the top of the bookshelf; it was metal and a bit heavy, but it would have to work in Keith’s case. Before he left the office, he remembered Lance had a few pocket knives hidden away in his desk. He walked over, opening one of the drawers, satisfied that he found them on his first try. He grabbed two, putting them in his pocket, one in each, and then grabbed one more that was smaller than all the others and slipped it into the side of his boot. Slipping the bat back into his hand, he made his way out and towards the front door. He have one more glance to the upstairs, and held a silent pray that they wouldn’t get past him and find Pidge.

Keith held the doorknob to the front door, but before he opened it, he closed his eyes. He breathed deeply, and thought of all the people he had met since escaping. Pidge, Hunk, Shay, Allura, Matt, Shiro, Lance. He may not make it through this fight, he may never be able to come back, but he will fight for them. He released his breath and opened the door. He said goodbye to Keith and G-1350 walked out the door ready to fight.

The smoke in the sky was fading now, his warning was over, and they were coming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :3c
> 
> tumblr: [chirithy](http://chirithy.tumblr.com/)
> 
> OSAS Playlists: [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK-204yZ97oqtfxByEoPzrMQu3jjtuIe6) / [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/user/bluechirithy/playlist/2kjUMkhTAFJY7TJxt7lTZD)


	25. sweet pea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **READ THIS BEFORE READING THE CHAPTER PLEASE!!!!!!!!**  
>  Note the new tag and the now new warning for my story. Because holy shit, I wrote fight scenes. I've been studying fight scenes for a month now for this chapter and I wish I could have written more, but I just couldn't. Anyway, enjoy!!!!!

Keith stood out of Lance’s yard, the house to his back and facing the woods. He was waiting for the Galra troops to come through, they sure were taking their sweet time in Keith’s opinion. His heart was pounding in his chest, the bat was heavy in his hand, the knives on his person felt like they were burning his skin. He didn’t want to do this, but he would. He would fight for his family, he would fight to protect the lone hidden girl in the house behind, because he would never forgive himself if any harm came to Pidge. He made her promise that she wouldn’t contact anyone for upwards to an hour, so no one else would be taken or hurt; Keith just hoped she would keep that promise. She had had tears in her eyes, looking ready to fight, but she had agreed. Keith took another couple steady breaths and shook away his thoughts. He couldn’t get distracted.

A shot rang out, and there was suddenly burning heat grazing against his arm. They struck first. He gave his injury no mind, knowing it was only a graze and readied his bat. He could hear footsteps coming fast and soon the first soldier appeared in front of him. He held a lance in his hand, almost making Keith roll his eyes. They were the easiest to get away from. He swung and the metal bat hit the lance with a heavy thud, making the soldier lost his grip. Keith didn’t give the person enough time to recover before he went to swing at his head. The fighter ducked just in time, but was able to kick Keith in the leg. Keith ignored the slight pain and went to swing once more, but the fighter grabbed his arm, twisting it harshly. The pain made Keith drop the bat, but he didn’t let that deter him; he took his free arm and punched the guy right in the face and kept punching until he let go of his arm. The fighter had now fallen to his knees, clutching his head in pain, but Keith couldn’t give him the benefit of a doubt, and quickly kicked him on the side of the head, knocking him out.

Keith didn’t have much time to recover his breath before two more men came out of the wood; one holding a staff, the other a sword. Keith sighed, he knew this operation exercise, and had been a part of it once before in practice. He hoped they kept it the same, he could have a rough estimate of people coming at him; including the two in front of him and the one downed behind him, there could be roughly 9 more people he’d have to defend himself against.

Keith, also, knew the two people in front of him. They worked well as a team, and for some reason, has hated him since Keith had met them. He would have to divide and conquer and make sure they don’t get a chance to work together.

Keith grabbed the abandoned lance and decided to throw it javelin style at G-2032 to distract him from Keith running at them. The lance actually grazed the man’s abdomen, making him yelp in pain and place a hand against the now-bleeding wound. Keith dodged a swipe from G-2031’s staff, before kicking 2032’s arm that was holding the sword, knocking it from the fighter’s grip. Keith blocked another hit from the staff with his arm, before kicking 2032 in the side, right where the wound was, knocking him to the ground.  
Keith’s attention was now on 2031, who made another swipe at his head, which Keith dodged quickly. He grabbed the end of the staff and tugged; smirking when he was met with resistance. 2031 tried to pull it away from him, but now Keith was using most of his strength to keep it in his grip. Keith pulled hard, nearly taking it from 2031’s grip, he used the momentum to kick the soldier in the stomach. The noise 2031 made was satisfying to Keith, but the release of the hold of the staff was even better. Keith now had the staff, and quickly spun it in his hand, making it hit 2031 in the face a few times.

2032 was now off the ground, still looking in slight pain, but he got into a fight position with 2031 mirroring his stance. Keith frowned, but didn’t let this deter him. He ran forward, jabbing an end of the staff towards 2032, and when it was dodged, he used the speed to smack 2031 hard in the face with the other end, sending him to the ground. Keith quickly spun on his feet, and tripped 2032 with the staff and smack him against the temple. The two were now incapacitated with 2032 knocked out and 2031 clutching his broken nose.

Keith could hear more footfalls coming closer. He cursed himself for he was slightly winded and tired. He wiped the sweat from his brow. Guess it was time to devote himself to the Galra’s motto, just not their cause.

Victory or death.

XXXX

XXXX

XXXX

XXXX

Keith was kneeling on the ground, clearly bruised and bleeding. He had a cut to his temple, he couldn’t see out of one eye (it was either a black eye now or the blood running into his eye), his nose was bleeding onto the ground below, and his ribs ached from being kicked. He panted heavily, trying to steady himself. He gave himself some time to look around him, at the people he had defeated.

10 people around in various states of unconsciousness. He had used all the weapons he had at his disposal, save for the knife in his boot, but now he had none. Keith knew he should try to stand up and find another weapon. He knew there would soon be more people upon his location. He could hear a car speeding up the road. But he was tired, and the pain was making him pause. He cursed himself for getting out of shape, for forgetting some of his training. He knew there was a high chance that the Galra was going to come for him, but he chose to not worry about it instead, focusing on bettering his psyche.

The car, or actually a van, had now skidded to a halt in front of Keith, and he heard three doors open and three different people get out of the van.

“G-1350. Well done,” Keith looked up and saw Sendak standing in front of him, a cruel smirk adorning his ugly face. He made a motion with his hand, and the two people beside him walked over, grabbing Keith by his arms. He attempted to struggle, but their grip only tightened on him. He chose to glare at Sendak with all his fury.

“It looks like you’re almost ready to return to your program. You were able to take down an entire unit that was after you. This would have put you on the top of all the cadets, if it wasn’t for the misdemeanor on your record. But luckily for me, your escape led to my new demotion program being approved,” Sendak walked closer, and grabbed the top of Keith’s hair, making him gasp in pain.

“I hope you’re ready to be in a world of pain. Hope you had fun on the outside, because you aren’t going to be living for much longer in this world,” Keith sucked on his lip, pulling blood into his mouth, before spitting into Sendak’s face.

“Fuck you and fuck the Galra,” Sendak was wiping the blood from his face, and was now ignoring Keith. He looked to one of the people holding Keith, and only said two words,

“Tranq him,” Keith, then, felt something stabbing into his arm. He looked to find a needle quickly being emptied into his bloodstream. His vision started to spin and fade, but he heard Sendak say something before falling into the black.

“Search the house,” His last thought was of Pidge and a hope that she would be fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :3c
> 
> tumblr: [chirithy](http://chirithy.tumblr.com/)
> 
> osas music playlists: [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK-204yZ97oqtfxByEoPzrMQu3jjtuIe6/) / [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/user/bluechirithy/playlist/2kjUMkhTAFJY7TJxt7lTZD/)


	26. helenium

Pidge was curled into herself. With every little sound she could hear, her hold on herself grew tighter. She knew she was crying, has been crying since Keith closed the panel, but she was still silently sobbing. She heard loud bangs that she could only guess was gunshots, and she could hear people yelling.

After what felt like a lifetime, she heard the door being kicked in, and someone shouting orders downstairs. They were searching the house. She could hear Lance’s house being trashed, probably searching for anything relating to Keith or the Galra, or anyone else inside the house. She was as far away from the opening to the crawlspace, but she squeezed herself more against the wall just in case.

Pidge could hear loud footsteps coming up the stairs, doors to spare rooms being opened harshly. It wasn’t long before Lance’s room was opened. Things were being tossed around, and soon the closet door was opened. Clothes being moved, but the person never not got close to the entrance to the crawlspace.

Pidge flinched at the rough voice she heard.

“There’s nothing here. Let’s head back. I can’t wait to take a round at 1350,” That last sentence sent a chill down Pidge’s spine, and she was disgusted with the man outside the closet. She almost wanted to jump out of her hiding spot, and hurt him before he could hurt Keith.

But she had promised Keith.

So she stayed. To keep her promise to Keith, to stay safe, and contact everyone as soon as the danger was gone.

Right now, she just could really use a hug.

XXXX

**Chat: Keith Protection Squad (2:34 PM)**

**starboy:** If one more soccer mom comes in here, and lets little gremlin children run around and make a mess, I will not be responsible for my reaction

**liongoddess:** No, but Coran would be

**starboy:** Quiznak

**liongoddess:** Grin and bear it, Lance. You shift is almost over

**starboy:** Ugh

**hirohamada:** vnoiwedgoihgnheeusgdiu

**starboy:** Pidge? You ok?

**hirohamada:** No, is everyone here?

**starboy:** Maybe?

**actualgordanramsey:** I’m here, just working on something

**notalright-all.left:** Pidge, what’s wrong?

**itsarockfact:** Pidge?

**hackervoice:** Katie, what’s wrong?

**hirohamada:** Keith is gone  
**hirohamada:** I’m stuck in Lance’s crawlspace  
**hirohamada:** I’m freaking out  
**hirohamada:** I want out of here  
**hirohamada:** Please someone come to Lance’s quick

**starboy:** Shit  
**starboy:** what do you mean he’s gone?

**hirohamada:** JUST GET ME OUT OF HERE LANCE BEFORE YOU HAVE A HOLE IN YOUR CLOSET WALL

**hackervoice:** Katie, I’m headed your way. I’ve got Shiro.  
**hackervoice:** 5 minutes

**actualgordanramsey:** keep us updated  
**actualgordanramsey:** I’m going to collect Shay and Lance

**liongoddess:** I’ll be there as soon as I can

XXXX

The first thing Shiro and Matt saw arriving to Lance’s house was that obviously something happened in front of the house. Shiro could see blood on the ground, many footpaths that couldn’t belong to just one person, and a few weapons scattered around the area. It looks like a fight had happened. Matt pulled on Shiro’s arm to take his attention away from the image.

They walked down the pathway to the front door, and gasped in horror when they found it practically torn off its hinges. The inside of the house was trashed, as if someone had been searching for something. But Matt paid it no mind, he only had one thought: Pidge. The chat message Pidge sent had said something about Lance’s closet, so that was their only guess to where Pidge could be. Matt quickly hopped up the stairs, skipping some as he ascended. Shiro was following behind, albeit a little slower, just taking in the sight of everything.

Matt called out Pidge’s name as he reached Lance’s room, and soon heard her responding. A faint whimper of his name, and a tapping noise coming from the closet. It was Morse, something Pidge did to calm herself down. He ran into the closet towards the back, and pulled away a heavy box, revealing the crawlspace. He pulled away the panel.

“Pidge?” A second later, he was launched backwards onto the ground, and Pidge was holding him tightly. He quickly felt the shoulder of his shirt turning wet, telling Matt she was crying. Matt looked behind him at Shiro, a question in his eyes.

What the hell had happened?

XXXX

Once Coran had seen Pidge’s message, he quickly released Lance from his duties. And Lance went running outside into Hunk’s waiting car. Shay looked at him from the front seat.

“Any updates?” He asked her, the look Shay gave him was pure sadness, but she had nodded.

“Matt got Pidge out of the crawlspace, but she can’t speak right now. She’s too overwhelmed,” Lance thanked her; at least, Pidge was safe and out of his crawlspace. But, they still have no clue what had happened to Keith.

The car ride passed by very quickly for all three of them. And at the sight of his house, Lance almost started to cry himself, but he stopped himself. He marched forward, leading Shay and Hunk inside.

Once inside, he saw Shiro and Allura making an attempt to clean up his house and Lance mentally thanked him. But, Lance’s attention immediately went to the couch where Matt and Pidge were curled up on. Matt held Pidge close to his side, rubbing soothing patterns onto her skin. Lance sat on the floor in front of the both of them, and immediately Pidge held her hand out towards Lance, letting him take it.

“Hey Pidgey,” The nickname brought a small smile upon Pidge’s face.

“Take your time, Pidge, okay?” Lance continued. He watched as she wiped away more tears, before nodding, still not able to bring herself to speak. A look of realization passed across her face, and Pidge pulled her hand out of Lance’s, before pointing at her backpack on the floor next to him. Lance raised an eyebrow at her, a bit confused, but she was making a motion with her hands as if she was opening her laptop. So he grabbed her bag, and pulled the laptop out of it. A piece of paper was sticking out from inbetween the sections of it; at the sight of the paper, Pidge started pointing at it, so Lance pulled it out and read the words on it out loud.

“Smoke in the air, time is up, you have 5 minutes,” Everyone was now staring at Lance, and he showed the paper to them. Showing the insignia that they all knew, because Keith had drawn it for them at one pointso they could keep a look-out for it.

“They took him,” A whisper came from next to Lance, and he looked at Pidge. She had tears falling down her face again.

“Keith said he was going to make them work for it, I don’t really know what he meant, but they still took him,” Pidge was trying to rub away her tears, but to no avail.

“He put up a hell of a fight, judging by what the front yard looks like,” Shiro said, now looking out the front window towards the fight scene. It was clear his thoughts were far away from here.

Lance looked around the room, everyone looked lost and devastated. Keith was their friend, and they hadn’t been there when he probably needed them. Lance stood up, and quickly wiped at his eyes.

“We will find him. We will get him back,” Pidge grabbed his hand again to gain his attention.

“But, how, Lance?” Lance bit his lip, trying to think.

“We’ll figure it out. Pidge, you were close to finding that doctor, keep trying. Someone call Rolo, maybe he can try to remember more for us. Just anything, any little thing could help. We can’t leave Keith in those bastards’ hands,” Everyone was now looking at Lance, with a bit of hope.

They would work to Keith back no matter what.

XXXX

XXXX

XXXX

XXXX

**[From anonymous]**

**[To[katelynnholt@llc.edu](mailto:katelynnholt@llc.edu)] **

**Subject: URGENT G-1350**

**Please read this, please trust me, even if it just a small piece of trust.**

**G-1350 is back at the compound. For now, he is in solitary confinement, but in the upcoming days, that will change. He is up for experimentation and a new training sequence that can end in death.**

**I was the one in charge of searching for G-1350 in Arus, but I had used all my resources to make them try to look the other way. And that is how I know your name and email, as well as all the names of your friends. But my position was changed, someone else was placed in charge and they found him anyway. What they didn’t know was that I was the one who helped him escape the first time.**

**But this time will be too much just for myself. I will need you and the ones listed below to help me get him out of here. We do not have much time. I will send another message when I can to meet up with you and we can work on a plan.**

**Time is of the essence.  
T**

**Needed:**  
Leandro ‘Lance’ Fuentes  
Ku ‘Hunk’ Garrett  
Takashi Shirogane  
Allura Altea  
Coran Smythe  
Matthew Holt  
Shay Demetrios

**.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

[END OF ACT 2]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh holy shit, I'm shaking. (That may also because I'm about to start my finals too). I can't believe I've finished Act 2 finally. And get to start working on Act 3 soon.
> 
> Also, question!!!!! Do y'all want to see some scenes with Keith in Act 3?  
> I was planning on Act 3, just being everyone trying to get him back, but I can include scenes of what is happening to him at the compound. Up to you, leave a comment below and tell me, please!
> 
> Oh yeah! Last week, I was able to upload my SafeKlanceWriters mini-bang! And it's just pure adorableness and fluf. Read it here at [a text away](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14488584/)
> 
> tumblr: [chirithy](https://chirithy.tumblr.com/)  
> Music Playlists: [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK-204yZ97oqtfxByEoPzrMQu3jjtuIe6/) / [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/user/bluechirithy/playlist/2kjUMkhTAFJY7TJxt7lTZD/)
> 
> Thank you for reading, see ya soon!!!!  
> Heart you, chirithy~~~~~~


	27. aloe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back. Go to the bottom author notes for a full explanation. Also, you can see I change part of my username. My pseud will always be chirithy, but I didn't want to be bluebellren anymore. It was a part of my past and now I wanted to part from it, and I really like my new one.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy the chapter!!

Hunk didn’t know what to think. He was looking around the room and found everyone in various forms of sorrow and grief, but at the moment, he could only focus on his own. He couldn’t believe that Keith was really gone; just yesterday, Hunk had been sitting next to Keith, he had been telling Keith about something his little sister had gotten into. The smile Keith had given Hunk was small but still treasured nonetheless. He felt someone come up beside him and he looked to find Shay. She grabbed Hunk’s hand, entangling their fingers together, and gave him a soft smile.

Hunk wanted to believe the words that Lance had said, that they would get Keith back. But, Hunk’s only question was how?

They were only a small group of people, and while, sure, they all had their own skills, but how exactly were they going to be able to fight a militaristic cult by themselves and save Keith in the process.

Hunk leaned his head against Shay’s shoulder and sighed while she started to rub his back in comfort.

XXXX

Shay felt Hunk sigh against her and continued rubbing his back. Her thoughts were scattered for the most part. She was the one who hadn’t gotten the chance to hang out with Keith for the most part. She was always too busy with her internship and her family. She was able to provide medical advice when the need called for it.

Her thoughts now went to what happened in the front yard. She had seen blood and many weapons. Whatever happened out there, a lot of people must have gotten hurt. She hoped Keith hadn’t been one of those people.

She believed that this group, no, this family would bring Keith back from where he was taken to. And she would be right there at the finish line, ready to patch everyone up.

XXXX

Matt’s thoughts were only towards Shiro, who had barely spoken since they had got here. Matt glanced over at Shiro, who was looking out the front windows, as if waiting for his brother to just start walking back up the front path.

It gave Matt flashbacks of when Keith first disappeared. Shiro had done the same exact thing; gone silent and wait by the window. It hurt Matt so much to see his best friend be hurt so much a third time in his life. He had just gotten his brother back, only to have him yank from his grasp.

Matt was going to everything in his power to help Katie and Lance find Keith once more. For Shiro.

XXXX

Allura sat at the dining table, glancing between all of her friends, worrying over every single one of them. She could feel her phone buzz in her pocket; it was either Coran asking for updates or her father asking where she was. But she didn’t have it in her at the moment to answer whomever it was.

She was now looking at Shiro, who looked so far away in his thoughts. She mourned for him.

She glanced at Lance, who was doing his best to look like he wasn’t about to cry. But she knew he might break soon, at least he was with his family.

Lance’s words were correct, they would do everything they can to get Keith back. But, Allura knew they were only young adults, they couldn’t do this all by themselves.

Allura pulled her phone out of her pocket, opening the group chat between Coran, herself and her father, and sent a message.

**“We’re going to need your help”**

XXXX

Lance was doing his absolute best to not break right now. He needed to be strong when everyone couldn’t be, but it was so hard. It felt like someone had ripped a part of him away.

It wasn’t just his feelings for Keith that made him feel this way, but Keith was a part of his family now. And those Galra bastards had taken him away from them.

Lance remembered that he had promised Keith he would never let the Galra find him again, and Lance had failed, and it was breaking him.

Lance had said he was going to bring Keith back no matter what, but he just didn’t know how.

XXXX

Shiro was lost in his thoughts. He couldn’t bring himself to pay attention to anything happening around him; it looked like he was looking out the window, but in reality, his mind was far away. He wanted to scream and yell, but he couldn’t let himself do that.

A part of him blamed his father for letting this happen in the first place. Ryou Shirogane was the only reason Keith had been sent to the Galra in the first place. Shiro wanted him to pay, wished Ryou could know how much damage he had done to his family.

Another part of Shiro blamed himself. He should have been there for Keith. Not just earlier today, but before, when Keith had been used to pay off a gambling debt. Shiro should have been there for Keith, should have stayed with him, or taken Keith with him to the Garrison. Maybe, none of this would have happened.

Shiro closed his eyes tightly, keeping the tears from pouring out his eyes. He had lost his brother, once had been enough.

XXXX

Pidge felt her phone go off. She quickly pulled it out to find an email waiting for her. One with Keith’s identification number in it.

She couldn’t answer it since it was from an anonymous sender, but she could use the data that the person sent her to finish finding the Galra. The data this mysterious ‘T’ had sent her was a website with a set of logins. She didn’t know how much she put into this anon, but she was going to get Keith back no matter what.

XXXX

Keith woke to a pitch black room. His head was swimming, and he couldn’t move. He knew he was most likely to be still out of it from the tranquilizer.

He could feel the various injuries he had gotten from the earlier fight, and cursed as some of the pain spiked as he tried to move.

Keith remembered what Sendak had said before he went unconscious, and he knew he was going to be in a lot of trouble soon. They probably weren’t even going to wait for the tranq to fully leave his system before they threw him into whatever hell they have prepared for him.

A part of him wished his friends would find him, take him out of this place and just get the hell out of here.

But the rest of him knew there was no way they would find him and even if they did, he might not be alive for his own rescue.

He thought of his friends’ face once more before he was dragged back into the unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sup?
> 
> I want to fully apologize for the long hiatus. After my finals, I just keep getting sick, and then when I wasn't sick, I had no inspiration to write. And even if I want to publish a new chapter, I didn't have internet. Anyway, I have internet now, and I'm not as sick anymore.
> 
> I'm sorry this chapter is so short, like I said, I had no inspiration to write and I actually didn't know how I wanted to start this act with. But, I think with this chapter, I'll be able to keep going, hopefully.
> 
> Love you all. See you soon
> 
> tumblr: [chirithy](http://chirithy.tumblr.com/)
> 
> of starflowers and scars music playlists: [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK-204yZ97oqtfxByEoPzrMQu3jjtuIe6/) / [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/user/bluechirithy/playlist/2kjUMkhTAFJY7TJxt7lTZD/)


	28. artemisia

Night came quicker than they expected, Shay had to go back home, and in her place came Coran, bringing them all food and some comfort foods. Matt had to coax Shiro into eating a couple slices of pizza before Lance had sent him to go to sleep. Coran and Hunk fixed up his front door as much as they could, and it was at least able to lock again, only took a little bit to open and close.

Lance didn’t want any of his friends out of his sights, so he had them set up in his various rooms. Hunk had his own room still, while Allura bunked up in Pidge’s with her. Lance got Matt and Shiro set up in his own room, while Lance planned to sleep on the living room couch. Apparently, Coran didn’t want to leave them alone as well, so Lance let him sleep on the office couch. Hunk and Pidge still had clothes here from the many times they stayed over since Keith came; Allura and Matt decided to raid Lance’s dresser for night clothes. Hunk gave Shiro some of his clothes so he could sleep comfortably. Coran had brought his own clothes.

Lance found himself in his comfort clothes, a large baggy t-shirt and equally baggy basketball shorts. He sat in his living room, a couple hours after he sent everyone to bed. There was a space documentary playing on his television, but he wasn’t playing it any attention. Lance just felt numb, it was a mixture of his feelings for Keith and his friendship with Keith.

It was simple, he missed Keith.

Lance hugged his knees to his chest. He didn’t know what he was going to do, he promised his friends that they were going to get Keith back, but Lance wasn’t sure how. It was all going to count on Pidge finding that doctor and hope that the doctor can lead them to the Galra. But, that was going to be a lot of pressure on Pidge. Maybe, Hunk, Matt and Coran could help her, but their expertise were all in different subjects.

Lance rubbed his eyes; he wished he could just be more help, but he knew more about astro-science than hacking and computers. Lance sighed and leaned his head against the back of the couch, closing his eyes. He was tired but he felt like he couldn’t sleep.

A few moments later, he jolted up when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked to find Coran leaning on the back of the couch, a tired small on his face. Lance watched as Coran walked around the couch and sat beside Lance.

“Good morning, my boy,” Lance simply sighed in response and leaned into Coran’s side. Coran wrapped an arm around Lance’s shoulders.

“What’s wrong?” Lance heard Coran ask.

“What are we going to do, Coran? We never actually planned for this,” It hurt to say, but it was true. Everyone just focused on getting Keith accustomed to regular life again, which was important, but they probably should prepared for this outcome. But, they didn’t.

Lance felt Coran rub his shoulder, as the man hummed in response.

“I’ll tell you what we’re going to do. Tonight, you, my boy, are going to get some sleep and awake in the morning to a fresh breakfast. Then, we will help young Pidge set up everything she needs, most likely taking over your office,” Lance nodded about the Pidge part, not so much the sleep part.

“But, Coran, what about Keith?” Coran sighed.

“We just have to have faith in him. We will work as hard as we can to find him, but not to exhaustion. I, myself, am confident that Keith can hold on until he locate him. What about you?” Lance could only think of Keith’s smile, but he knew Keith was possible of many things and had been through many endeavors. So Lance nodded, he could believe that Keith will be there waiting for them at the finish line.

But, Lance was scared of how hurt he could actually be. Coran must have sensed Lance’s current thought, for he squeezed Lance’s shoulder.

“And if he is hurt, we will get him help. The endgame is to expose the Galra, so we would possibly be able to take him to the hospital if he is harmed that badly. But if not, I am, also, confident in myself and Shay’s abilities in medical training to help him either way,” Lance released a breath that he didn’t know he was holding onto. It did help that Coran was planning ahead; Lance had seen that Coran had brought his medical bag when he arrived earlier, probably a just in case measure.

“I appreciate this, Coran, you put some of my thoughts at ease, but I don’t think I’m sleeping tonight,” Lance hugged his knees tighter to his chest; yes, he was tired, but sleep was eluding him. He saw Coran nod in his peripheral.

“That’s fine. How about I tell you about the time me and Alfor had lost track of Allura on the LCC campus, only to find her with one of the communications professors, Blaytz, in the radio station as a co-host in one of the shows,” Lance snorted in amusement. He knew Professor Blaytz and adored him, but he had not heard of this story.

Coran pulled a blanket over his own lap, before telling Lance the tale.

XXXX

Hunk made his way quietly through the house. He didn’t want to wake anyone, since sleep had come uneasily to everyone the past night. He made his way down the steps, making sure to avoid the creaky parts of it. Once he made to the bottom of the steps, he saw Coran and Lance curled up together on the couch. Lance’s head was resting on Coran’s shoulder while Coran’s head was leaning back against the back of the couch. Hunk winced at the painful angle Coran’s head was in. He’d have to have some painkillers out of the older man when he awoke.

Hunk’s anxiety was high; he had tossed and turned for most of the night, only getting a few hours of sleep. So, he decided to do what he usually did to help calmed his anxiety. Hunk could take this time to clear his head and be clear-minded enough to be able to help Pidge later on. So he rolled up the sleeves of his nightshirt and set to work.

XXXX

Everyone started to wake slowly to the smell of bacon and biscuits. Matt had to coax Shiro out of the bedroom to get him to go eat, since he was still in some grief. Allura carried Pidge’s backpack downstairs as the smaller girl rubbed at her tired eyes. Once Matt and Allura got Shiro and Pidge set, they went to help with other kitchen tasks for Hunk; Allura made the coffee, while Matt got the plates and cutlery together. Lance awoke a little bit after Shiro and Matt made it downstairs, and got some coffee for himself and Coran after Allura had brewed it, also grabbing the painkillers for Coran.

Once Hunk announced breakfast was ready, Lance hopped up to help bring everything into the dining room. Pidge was doing much better than the previous night; she was talking more and looked like a woman on a mission. Matt had to stop her from pulling her laptop out before eating breakfast. But, Lance was happy that Pidge was ready to hit the ground running to locate Keith. Shiro’s grief was understandable, so everyone, but Matt, left him be. Matt had been able to coax some conversation out of the man and got him to eat. Everyone knew that Matt could handle it, and they only hoped that once they got a few leads that Shiro will snap out of it.

As breakfast died down, they all looked to Pidge, and Lance was the one who spoke up.

“Alright, Pidge, what’s our first plan of action?” Pidge gave them a crooked smile and held up her phone with the email in view.

“I have a lead,”

XXXX

Keith awoke to a splash of freezing cold water hitting his body. He quickly sat up, shivering and shaking the water from himself. He looked around to find the room he was in was filled with light now, coming from the open door. Keith looked to the door to find Sendak standing there, holding a bucket, with a cruel grin upon his face. Keith watched as Sendak stepped out of the way of the door, and two men came rushing in, grabbing both of Keith’s arms, forcing him to stand. He swayed slightly, still feeling the effects of the tranquilizer

Keith let him be dragged out of his cell and down the hallway. He looked around and didn’t see any other recruits walking around like before, and found that Sendak and his gang were dragging him towards the training arena. Sendak stopped in front of a door and pulled out a keycard, making it open. Keith was quickly tossed in, and the door slammed shut behind him.

It was an incredibly small room, only 5x5 feet in space. Opposite of the door he was thrown from was a cell door, looking in on the training arena. Keith walked the couple steps over, grabbing the bars of the door and looked into the arena. He saw that the entire arena had similar doors all over the room. He could see a couple people doing the same as him, and he recognized some of them. Two of them he had fought against a couple hours beforehand.

After Keith looked around, he heard a ticking noise above his head over the cell door. He looked up to find a timer that was quickly counting down. Keith could only guessed at what would happened when it hit zero.

Keith sighed before he stretched his muscles and tried to shake off the after effects of the drugs in his system. He watched the timer count down as he double-checked his injuries from his previous fight. They hurt, but not so much that they could weigh him down and keep him from fighting, but whatever may come would probably aggravate them more. He pulled an elastic band off of his wrist and pulled his hair up into a ponytail. The timer was quickly heading towards zero.

Once the timer hit zero, which was beeping loudly and Keith could hear it echo a couple times in other cells of the arena, the cell door opened into the arena. Keith saw a couple more door open as well. He could see in the middle of the room was a couple of weapons, and glanced at the people entering the arena.

Keith took a quick deep breath and bolted forward towards the weapons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope this chapter is okay, right now I'm just writing to keep my mind off of upcoming medical test results. I'm going to start writing the second part (Lance's part) to a text away soon as well, hopefully.
> 
> Anyway, message me on tumblr if you would like to talk!
> 
> tumblr: [chirithy](http://chirithy.tumblr.com/)
> 
> of starflowers and scars music playlists: [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK-204yZ97oqtfxByEoPzrMQu3jjtuIe6/) / [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/user/bluechirithy/playlist/2kjUMkhTAFJY7TJxt7lTZD/)


	29. hiatus announcement

I don't want to do but since it's been so long since I've written a chapter for of starflowers and scars, I believe I need to say I am currently on hiatus. I've just had no inspiration to write this story at the moment, and it doesn't help that I've been really sick lately. I barely have the energy to go to classes and write chapters for my season 7 fix-it story.

Maybe once I've recovered from what ever is going on with me, I'll be able to work on new chapters. I won't abandon this fic, since it's basically the barebones for my own original story, but I can't write for it right now. And I'm so sorry to the people that have been waiting for a new chapter.

Love you all, and hopefully I will update this soon. Have a great day!

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first Voltron fic ever, and I hope you enjoy. I'm really just reworking my original stories that I made for my OCs and just fitting in the Voltron characters.
> 
> hmu on tumblr: [chirithy](http://chirithy.tumblr.com/)  
> I really do have a flower associated with each character and don't mind sharing them!!


End file.
